


Pokemon Commandos

by Jamie15243A



Series: Pokemon Commandos [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Comedy, Crime Fighting, Defeated, Eventual Happy Ending, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery, Pokemon Journey, Strategy & Tactics, Team Rocket (Pokemon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:46:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 30,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28359558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jamie15243A/pseuds/Jamie15243A
Summary: Jamie's lifelong dream is to become a pokemon trainer, but after a hard-fought champion battle against Pokemon Champion Lance ends in defeat, Jamie's journey and ambitions are coming to a tragic end until he's given an offer that could potentially turn his pokemon training life around. What will he learn in his new adventure? Rated T for minor swearing.
Series: Pokemon Commandos [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2199348





	1. Ch.1 Born From a Dying Dream

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: Heya guys, I'm a new poke fanfic writer who just moved in. Constructive criticism is always welcomed since I do want to pump out quality content for you all to enjoy and I'm actually new to writing in general. Without further ado, sit back and enjoy what could potentially become an amazing series :)
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own the Pokemon franchise and I don't intend any copyright infringement. However, I do own my OCs :3
> 
> Note: Anytime I mention pokemon levels or moves, I'm referring to the Gen 7 movesets for Ultra Sun and Moon because not all pokemon have Gen 8 movesets. However, I may occasionally bend the moveset rules whenever it's most convenient :/

From the day that I finished high school at the age of eighteen and started my pokemon journey in Pallet Town with my starter, I knew that the road to being a pokemon champion was no easy feat. Regardless, I committed myself to help my pokemon grow as strong as they can along with myself as a trainer to the best of my ability. I spent three years traveling through all of Kanto’s routes encountering all sorts of pokemon to catch, trainers to battle, and the eight gym leaders that I defeated until last week occurred, which was most likely the worst and best day I’ve ever had in my life.

One week ago:

After triple-checking how prepared my lv.50 team is, I trekked through Victory Road, encountering strong pokemon and strong trainers that easily fell to my team, until I finally arrived at the Indigo Plateau, my final test as a pokemon trainer. All the confidence I gained at the start of Victory Road suddenly washed away as I started shaking in my running shoes and felt butterfrees forming in my stomach. I figured that giving my team a quick pep talk might calm my nerves, so I threw out all six of my pokeballs, and out came my final Kanto team:

Tanker, the Blastoise, is my starter pokemon who gladly accepts any challenge head-on with his sheer muscular strength and powerful water cannons, regardless of any disadvantages.

Sparkbomb, the Electrode, may appear as an unconventional choice for an electric pokemon, but Sparky does pack an explosive surprise hidden behind its mischievous grin.

Vineguard, the Victreebel, being a hard-boiled pokemon means almost no opponent fazes Vine as he strategically lashes his vine whips to remove any opportunity to retaliate or evade.

Blaze, the Ninetales, often more concerned with her beauty, can still effortlessly convert her burning passions into waves of elegant, hot flames, burning up her enamored foes.

Sky, the Dragonair, has a shy and timid exterior, but a contrasting comforting and selfless interior willing to protect others from harm with various draconic and elemental attacks.

Chomper, the Aerodactyl, loves to explore and learn more about the eye-catching modern world he’s resurrected in, along with lending a wing to the team with his prehistoric powers.

“Welp, here we are the Indigo Plateau.” I anxiously announced, “This is what we all worked our hardest for after all.”

Chomper gazed at the pokemon league in amazement, Vineguard quickly practiced his vine whip takedown maneuver, and Sky coiled around herself in anxiety.

After a second, I continued, “I’ll admit, I’m also just as nervous as you guys, but I also know that you all put in countless amounts of effort to become where you are now. Thus, let’s all give our best in the pokemon league!” Tanker, Sparky, and Blaze shouted their species’ name enthusiastically in agreement.

Suddenly, an idea flashed before me. “Since we are all here to conquer the pokemon league together, I ask that all of you climb the stairs with me!” I triumphantly finished. Afterward, Tanker, Blaze, and I walked, Sky slithered, Vineguard hopped, and Chomper flew, with Sparkbomb in his grasp, up the stairs into our final challenge.

As much as I had fate in my pokemon after training for such a while, I also dread the faith many trainers who fail to defeat the champion go through. The income for a pokemon trainer is often unstable and limited. As a trainer’s pokemon level up, fewer trainers are likely to challenge you to a battle out of fear of losing the money they betted. Should I fail, no one would want to challenge and lose their money to a trainer who’s pokemon are in their 50th level and thus, no income for me. This means that I’ll be forced to settle down and get a stable job, which would halt my journey at best, or at worst: destroy any opportunity to continue training and rechallenging the pokemon league. I didn’t have the heart to let my pokemon know about this problem, fearing that I would add unnecessary stress to my already hardworking team.

Now that my pokemon and I stood before the door to our first Elite Four opponent, I took note of a new official pokemon league rule banning all items except held items in pokemon league battles to remove potion spamming, recalled everyone into their pokeballs, and marched on, gripping my starting pokemon’s pokeball, to my final challenge.

Although we made short work of the Elite 4 trainers: Will, Koga, Bruno, and Karen, all my pokemon eventually fell short to our final opponent: Pokemon Champion Lance. Sparkbomb struck down gyarados with thunder, Tanker hosed down aerodactyl with water pulse, and Chomper stoned charizard with ancient power. However, Tanker and Chomper are left with a sliver of health, leaving them easy prey for one of Lance’s dragonite while Sparky blows itself up, dealing heavy damage to the dragonite. Next, dragonite is defeated from a combination of Blaze’s extrasensory and Vineguard’s poison jab. Both fainted shortly after Lance’s second dragonite appeared, leaving Sky to finish off the second dragonite with dragon rush. Once Lance’s last dragonite appears, Sky frantically gives everything she got in the next dragon rush, only to fall to dragonite’s outrage.

Once the battle ended, I stared at the floor in shame. All the training my pokemon and I did and all those times that I hyped up my pokemon claiming that they will become champions only for us to get demolished like nothing. We were so close, yet I had no idea what led to my pokemon and I falling short. “Damn it! How could I not see that we weren't ready?” I whispered to myself in frustration “How could I be so self-absorbed to not see our own flaws? How could I call myself a trainer after this defeat? How could I-”

Sky interrupted my sulking, after limping to where I stood, with a quick lick and nuzzle on my forehead, which I looked up and noticed her worried expression and realized I forgot to recall Sky back into her pokeball. I responded somberly: “I’m sorry, Sky… I clearly failed as a trainer considering how I didn’t prepare you guys for Lance’s pokemon…”

Sky immediately shook her head in disagreement, then rested her tail on my shoulders and directed my attention, in pokemon speech, to the champion’s room, where only the best of the best trainers can reach with their pokemon. Sky then looked back to me, proud of our accomplishment and with hopeful eyes that we could continue getting stronger. Her optimism made it difficult for me to not smile and agree. “Guess you learned a thing or two about positivity from Sparkbomb now did ja,” I snorted contently while hugging her under her neck, which Sky reciprocated by nuzzling my forehead and confirmed my suspicion with a nod.

As soon as Sky finished picking me back up, Lance also finished tending to his Dragonites and thanking them for an amazing battle and walked towards me. “I must admit Jamie, You’ve been my toughest opponent I’ve battled against in a long time.” Lance commented “Only a few trainers made it to this room. Even then, only a couple of them manages to faint one of my dragons, let alone five. Overall, your pokemon battled well.” I didn’t know what to say in response to the sudden compliment, so I nodded.

“Most importantly, was your bond with your dragonair,” Lance added. “I saw your dragonair comforting you after your loss, clearly caring for you and you warmly responding to her affection with yours like the closest of friends.” My cheeks suddenly grew bright red as a tomato, realizing that Lance must have seen me sulk earlier while Sky giggled softly behind me from my sudden blush. “Oh, don’t worry,” Lance reassured, “There’s no need to feel embarrassed.” Then, he continued, “In fact, many trainers forget about this bond between trainer and pokemon as they train more competitively. I believe that having a strong bond like yours with your pokemon is vital for your pokemon to continue training harder and growing stronger at a steady pace. Showing this bond in our battle indicates great potential that you and your pokemon can achieve.

“Thank Arceus he didn’t see me mope around earlier,” I calmed myself firstly. Next, as inspiring Lance’s words are, I knew exactly that my worst nightmare is starting to come true. I thanked Lance for his recommendation, but I find it necessary to inform him and regrettably, Sky, of my income dilemma at hand. Sky was inches away from shedding a tear over my bad news while Lance pondered for a moment.

“I see… I’m terribly sorry to hear such news from a promising trainer. Like many before you, I, unfortunately, don’t know what to say. I was thinking you cou-”

The doors to the champion room suddenly burst open revealing Professor Oak urgently rushing in. “Lance, there’s a major problem in the Johto region!” Professor Oak frantically exclaimed.

“What’s going on?” Lance asked with a worried expression

“Team Rocket is still at large in the region.” Professor Oak announced in a serious tone “After Ethan defeated Team Rocket at the Goldenrod Radio Tower, they escaped and split up into smaller, harder to spot groups, and not even the best officers were in luck to find the remaining grunts.”

“What?! There’s no way I’ll let Team Rocket hurt any more pokemon!” Lance shouted while clenching his right fist out of both shock and anger. “Professor, where are we meeting up? I’ll get my dragon brigade ready as soon as possible.”

I listened in on the conversation with both confusion and concern growing in my mind along with exchanging looks with Sky who also shared the same look as me.

“We are meeting up in Professor Elm’s lab along with several police officers to plan our next course,” Professor Oak explained.

“Sounds good Professor,” Lance agreed. Then Lance turned to me, “Jamie, reaching this far into the pokemon league shows that you are currently one of the strongest trainers available and your impressive pokemon battling skills will definitely come in handy for stopping Team Rocket. I ask you, on behalf of every single pokemon hurt by Team Rocket, to help us put an end to their criminal ways.”

Before I said a word, I heard Sky recoiling in terror and I quickly and gently ran my hand down her spine calming her nerves and reassuring her, “No one’s going to take you away again. I can promise you that and anyone dumb enough to try must get past our other teammates, including me.” She nodded, albeit doubtfully. I turned back to the other two in the room dying for my answer. “As much as I want to stop Team Rocket, my pokemon battling income is dwindling from a lack of challengers and it’s only a matter of time until I’m broke,” I explained.

“Oh, I have an idea,” Professor Oak chimed in, “I can offer you a weekly paycheck for your efforts in finding Team Rocket along with helping me out on my pokemon studies. How you raised your pokemon is enough for me to entrust you with my pokemon research.”

My eyes quickly lit up as I finally found myself a reliable source of income by stomping on an evil organization with the pokemon that I bonded with on my journey, which could potentially continue. I immediately responded, “You got it, Professor Oak! I’m in.” “Besides, Sky and I have a score to settle with Team Rocket…” I hinted.

At that note, everyone went their separate ways to get ready for Team Rocket in Johto. I healed my team in the pokemon center in the pokemon league and brought them up to speed. Blaze made a sassy scoff at either Team Rocket’s antics or me announcing another “boring" task, Tanker seemed eager to deliver vigilante justice, and Sparkbomb snickered at a funny thought it typically thinks up.

I recalled everyone except Chomper back into their pokeballs, who’s eager to take off and explore a new region. However, before I departed to Johto on Chomper’s back, I took a moment to reflect on today. ”What a day…” I thought, “To think that my dream as a pokemon champion dying off will give birth to a brand new adventure just around the corner.”


	2. Ch.2 New Elements

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Big thanks to those keeping up with this story :D

Present-day:

I often have people calling me a “noctowl” for a glaring reason: I tend to stay up late until around 3:00 am-4:00 am and wake up at around 10:00 am-11:00 am. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem but considering that my pokemon, who I let sleep outside their pokeballs, wake up much earlier than me and I’m a heavy sleeper, they often take the opportunity to have some “fun” with my sleeping corpse.

One extreme example is today when I’m camping out on Route 35, dreaming of relaxing in the warm, humid beaches of Alola with sweat building up in my forehead, only to wake up and realize the “warm, humid setting” was the doing of my dragonair coiling around my body and the “sweat” is saliva from her maw preparing to swallow my head whole.

“HOLY SHIT!!!!! SKY!!! DON’T EAT ME!!! DON’T EAT ME!!! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!” I immediately scream and flail like a five-year-old girl. My other pokemon watching explodes into laughter, especially Sparkbomb who’s rolling on the floor laughing like a beach ball having a seizure, with Sky joining in shortly after. “Good freaking morning, you damn bastards! Now, who’s idea was it to turn me into breakfast!?...” I pouted in annoyance after sliding out of Sky’s fourteen feet long body, which only elicits more laughter.

Fortunately, I quickly found Vineguard rummaging through my backpack, disregarding this morning’s event, and he presents me with the shopping list that I prepared last night as a reminder of our task today. “Oh, right… Allow me to brush my teeth and get changed into my street clothes and we’ll be on our way, Vine,” I responded. Once I got my green t-shirt, black gym shorts, and glasses on, I put on my calf socks and running shoes and head out for Goldenrod with Vineguard.

Even though their antics are all fun and games, events like this are why I need pokemon like Vineguard around or my “friends'' might destroy my sanity. Unlike the others, Vine doesn’t have a sense of humor, nor does he show any emotion that I know of. He was always like this since my journey in Kanto and I received countless deadpan responses when I tried to converse with him like: “So, Misty is a water type specialist. Think you got this in the bag?” only to receive a short shrug and nothing else. Another time I commented, “Those hikers in Rock Tunnel with their rock and ground types were no match for you, don’t you think?” with Vine barely sharing any enthusiasm. Not even evolution could invoke any emotional expression like the time in Celadon City, “Congrats Vineguard, you just evolved into a big and strong victreebel! How does it feel?” and Vine scanned his new form and gave me a quick, shallow cry. I guessed that Vine was trying to say “thanks'' in his language, but still no emotion from him. I suppose that explains his pokemon nature as “serious”.

Another thing I was thinking of while walking south on Route 35 to Goldenrod City with Vineguard is the events that lead to me watching over Goldenrod City like a sentry.

Six days ago:

In a meeting room in Professor Elm’s lab, I stood at attention along with at least 300 police officers as Professor Elm, Professor Oak, and Champion Lance discuss the issue at hand. Professor Elm started the meeting by asking the chief officer: “So, Officer Jenny, you say that you don’t have enough officers? Is that right?”

“That is correct,” the female officer in front of the rest answered, “Currently, I don’t have enough officers to cover every inch of Johto. I cannot keep pulling out more officers from my first responder and reinforcement units without lowering their effectiveness.”

“I’m doing everything I can to negotiate the police departments of Kanto to send more officers to Johto.” Professor Oak replied.

“And how many officers does Kanto plan to send over?” Officer Jenny asked.

“I could only get them to send over 100 officers so far, but I plan to get more from Kanto.” Professor Oak responded.

Officer Jenny pondered for a second and stated, “That should cover every town and city, except for Goldenrod City, which is still heavily unprotected.”

Lance then chimed in, “I may have a solution for you. Firstly, I can stop at Goldenrod in-between visiting every other city to help patrol. Secondly, we could have Jamie patrol Goldenrod along with the outnumbered officers.”

I stepped forward to show myself to everyone in the meeting room. Many of the officers appeared doubtful, some whispered to each other, and about three to six acted like they just saw a celebrity.

“Is that him?” one officer asked.

“That’s the challenger?…” another officer added.

“Impossible. This kid will get creamed by Team Rocket.” a third officer asserted. 

That comment nearly sent me over the edge. I get that I stand a measly five feet and seven inches tall, but that doesn’t lump me in with twelve-year-olds for Arceus’ sake.

I heaved a sigh to cool off and then sternly responded: “To clear any doubts on my capabilities, who wishes to challenge me to a battle? I promise that I’ll end the fight very quickly.”

Before any of the officers could respond, Professor Elm quickly intervened. “Now, now… There’s no need for anyone to battle,” Professor Elm explained, “If Lance sees Jamie as a worthy trainer to assist in our cause, I trust him 100 percent.”

Fortunately, the conflict ended peacefully with a few officers cautiously eyeing me and the meeting continued with each officer assigned to either patrolling a city or route or assigned to a first responder or rocket grunts hunting unit. Once the meeting concluded, the chief officer gave all the non-police officers in the room a walkie talkie, I thanked Professor Elm once more for letting me use his meeting room as a dormitory for the night and took off to Route 35 to camp out.

Ever since then, I checked in with my leading officer at noon and started my patrol with one of my pokemon until midnight where I would head back to Route 35 to camp out. My patrol route covered the northern parts of Goldenrod from the Goldenrod Radio Tower to the Goldenrod gym. The city was lively and swarmed with different people and pokemon from different regions. I saw many trainers heading to the Goldenrod gym with only about five percent coming back out with a badge. Most who left the gym freaked out about the gym leader’s miltank being extremely strong. I also saw some radio tower employees moving large machines covered in blue tarps into the radio tower. I asked a couple of employees about the machines and they said the machines’ details are classified information.

Present-day:

Today was Sunday, my off day, which allows me to visit the Goldenrod Department Store to buy some groceries and supplies for my pokemon and me. Speaking of my pokemon, I allowed them to hang back at camp while I only brought Vineguard for one special reason. As a grass type and having above-average intellect, he can sense the quality of fruits, veggies, berries, and other plant-based products and pick out the best one available. After evolving Vine into a victreebel, my pokemon and I never tasted a nasty berry throughout my Kanto journey.

Once Vineguard and I got all the things on the list: dry pokemon food, various berries, batteries, instant noodles, and hyper potions, we got in line to pay. The total cost was around 3500 poke dollars, but before I could hand over the money, I hear an ear-splitting, high-pitched screech that gives me and everyone in the department store a serious headache, bleeding ears, and/or ringing in their ears. I glance out the windows to see everyone in Goldenrod covering their ears for dear life as the radio tower is emitting a purple energy wave. After a minute, the screech stops, and another minute for the ringing in my ears to stop, I look around and ask Vineguard: “Hey Vine, are you alright there?”

“Yeah, I’m good here,” an unfamiliar mid-range voice responded.

I was taken aback by the unfamiliar voice and look all around the store to find the owner of the voice until vine taps me.

“Jamie, that voice is mine,” Vineguard answered again.

At that moment, everyone stares at the talking pokemon in shock.

“Wait, that means you could talk?” I asked surprised.

Vine responded, “That’s right. It seems like the radio waves we just heard altered my vocal cords and mind in a way to allow me to speak your human language.”

“Wow, that’s pretty neat, yet also strange,” I commented while paying the cashier.

After leaving the Goldenrod Department Store, I gaze in confusion at every pokemon outside that’s also talking. I proceed to radio Professor Oak about the situation at hand.

“Unbelievable, are you sure that after hearing the radio waves, your victreebel along with other pokemon in the vicinity can talk?” Professor Oak asked baffled.

“I’m positive. Here, have a listen…” I answered.

“This is Vineguard, I can indeed speak your human language, Professor Oak,” Vine spoke into the walkie talkie.

“What, no way!” Professor Elm exclaimed in disbelief, “I refuse to believe such impossible nonsense! Jamie, bring your victreebel to my lab immediately to confirm your preposterous claim.”

I flinch from Professor Elm’s aggressive doubt, but I did muster an “Okay then, we’ll be on our way.”

As Vineguard and I step forth onto Route 35, I heard a trainer call out: “Hey you in the green t-shirt, I challenge you to a battle!”

I look ahead to see a trainer in his sixteens wearing a dark red shirt and blue jeans just defeated a random trainer and walking up to me.

“Um, me?...” I awkwardly answered.

“Yeah, you! C’mon, I’ll crush you into nothing!” the trainer boasted.

I would be lying if I didn’t say this trainer’s ego is getting on my nerves. Vineguard stares at the trainer unfazed and then snapped, “We’re not interested. We must get going.”

The trainer looked slightly shocked at my talking victreebel, but quickly returns to his cocky self, “Aw, what’s the matter? You scared or something~?”

I grow more irritated, but Vine maintains a stoic expression, “I said, we are not interested in a battle. We are not intimidated, we just need to head to Professor Elm’s lab.”

After Vine was done explaining, another trainer, also sixteen but in a navy polo shirt with tan cargo shorts, caught up to this arrogant asshole panting. “These two must be related somehow,” I thought.

“Yo Ruth, I just caught myself a couple of cowards here. Can you believe these wimps are too afraid to battle me?” The red trainer sneered.

“Leave us alone already. We must visit Professor Elm, now.” Vine responded sternly.

“Hey Derek, let’s leave them be. They seem to be busy ri-” the trainer called “Ruth” suggested before being cut off by the trainer in red called “Derek”.

“Hell no, this loser thinks he can hide his worthlessness forever? I’ll be sure to show this pathetic excuse of a trainer where his true place is!”

Given the circumstances I faced in high school, it’s no surprise that I’m easily intimidated by confrontations like this. Vineguard looks over to my face and seems to read my expression like a book. “Jamie, don’t let his attitude get to you. We’ve got more important things to be concerned about, so let’s go,” Vine asserted.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going? Back to your dumpster home~? Ha!” Derek continues mocking while Vine directs me back on the route.

“Just let it go, he’s not worth our time,” Vine calmly reminded me.

“...Alright then,” I whispered in defeat despite no battling occurred.

At last, Vine and I make our way back to camp only to find a surprise. My electrode rolls over to us and out came a mid to low pitch electronic voice, ”Yo boss, Vine, what took ya a while?”

“Yeah, did you two got chased down by an ursaring, hehehe…” a snarky feminine voice added.

“Oh, you guys could talk as well?” I asked, surprised yet also expectant.

“Uh, we always could… Are you deaf or what?...” Blaze retorted with a mountain of sass.

“He means you two speaking the human language!” Vine impatiently pointed out.

“Woah there, Vine… It’s just a joke…” Sparkbomb remarked.

“Yeah, learn how to take a joke for once,” Blaze added.

Vine and I start rolling our eyes but immediately spot two trainers running up to the four of us.  
“There you cowards are! Think you can avoid me exposing you as failures huh?!” Derek accused while Ruth following shortly behind.

“Who the heck are these guys?” Blaze questioned.

“Are these your new friends?” Sparky added.

“Friends my ass…” I thought.

Vineguard’s POV:

“These two trainers clearly don’t know what ‘no’ means,” I thought and stare at the two pests before me in annoyance. “For the love of Arceus, how hard is it for you to understand that: NO means NO! Damnit!” I yelled irritated.

“Nice try, But there’s no escaping the truth that you are an absolute loser!” Derek continues his mockery, “Now… Stop being so difficult and show us all how pitiful you really are!”

My trainer then heaves a heavy, regretful sigh and then offered, “Vine, since this bastard won’t leave us without a battle, how about a one v one?”

Seeing no other options, I answered back, “Anything to make this guy leave…” while getting in battle stance.

“Finally, the cowardly, silly excuse of a trainer decides to battle! Go quilava!” Derek called out. “Easy win! Use flame wheel quilava!”

As quilava coats itself in flames, I scan my surroundings for any terrain advantages until I notice the dirt pathway. “That should work, ground beats fire,” I reasoned as I quickly hurl some dirt off the pathway with vine whip into quilava, which smothered the flames and blinded quilava. 

“Okay, one of its weak points is open to attack,” I deduced as I grab quilava by the throat with a vine whip and yank it straight to me. Before the quilava reaches me, I stiffen my side leaves and coat poison onto them, basically forming toxic leaf knives, and poison jab quilava right in the skull. The quilava’s forward momentum combined with my forceful stab to a critical body area left the quilava severely wounded. Refusing to go down, the quilava pulls out its held berry, which I quickly slap out of its hands with knock-off and landing the knockout blow.

“Damn Vine, you really ‘buried’ that quilava if you know what I mean~,” Sparkbomb cheered

“You go! Show that big-mouthed loser who’s boss!” Blaze also cheered.

“Buried, that quilava... Your puns are the worst, Sparkbomb,” I mused.

“What!? I lost to a grass type!? UGH!!! Fine, take your stupid money!” Derek called out in disbelief, but somehow regains his obnoxious overconfidence, “Eh, beginners luck perhaps… but don’t celeb-”

“It’s not luck!” I sharply interjected, “Expecting a win simply because fire vs. grass is absolutely naive and foolish. Type matchups don't always dictate the outcome of the battle, kid. Skill, however, does.”

“Tch! I don’t need a lecture from a bunch of lucky losers…” Derek snorted before storming off north of Route 35.

Jamie’s POV:

I pick up the money he slammed on the ground, which is 500 poke dollars, and turn to Ruth

“Yeah, sorry about my friend Derek. I heard he’s trying to evolve his quilava and he often gets overly competitive quite easily in pokemon battles. My name is Ruth, by the way,” Ruth friendly greeted.

“Cool, I’m Jamie. I’m heading to Professor Elm’s lab to figure out how my pokemon can talk.” I replied.

“Nice. Also, the battle you had with Derek kinda reminds me of how Red, Kanto’s former champion, once had a rival. Maybe you two could grow stronger together, just like how Red grew stronger with his rival,” Ruth suggested.

I felt uneasy about the idea since I’ve experienced similar people in my high school years, but Vine is having none of it. He coldly responded, “No way that’s happening! His attitude is beyond tolerable and will only serve as a distraction and a torment for our team members. I say he should keep his big mouth shut and out of our business from now on. Otherwise, I will force him away myself.” 

“Oh, well… I have to go right now... Well, it was nice meeting you today Jamie!” Ruth nervously added before running off in fear.”

I turn to Vine, who has an apathetic look on his face, “Woah Vine, I don’t think it was necessary to scare him off like that. He didn’t do anything.”

“I must make my stance clear to one who I can reason with,” Vineguard retorted, maintaining apathy in his voice and word choice.

At that moment, my last three pokemon emerge from the forest.

“Sorry we were late guys, berries were too good and I gotta feed my muscles,” said a low pitch “alpha male” voice from Tanker.

“Yeah, they were. Also, the fish pokemon here tasted great.” a raspy high pitched voice came from Chomper.

“We also heard yelling here, is everything okay here?” Sky asked with a soothing feminine voice.

By now I wasn’t surprised at them talking considering the earlier bump in with Sparky and Blaze.

“Yo dudes, you just missed out on Vine’s most savage beating. ON a quilava!” Sparky hyped.

“Yeah, he even told both of those losers off and they ran home crying like babies.” Blaze snidely remarked.

“That’s one way to put it… Anyways, Professor Elm instructed us to go to his lab to confirm the claim that pokemon are speaking the human language and we already wasted enough time.” Vineguard informed the rest of my team.

“I must agree, the sun is setting. If we fly now, we might make it by nightfall.” I suggested, still feeling guilty for Ruth absorbing Vineguard’s tongue lashing.

Once I take down the tent, pack our supplies, and recall everyone except Chomper into their pokeballs, I turn to face Chomper who seems uneasy.

“Um… Jamie?” Chomper nervously asked.

“Yeah, what’s up,” I replied concerned.

“You don’t mind me asking you a bunch of questions now that we could talk to each other, right?” Chomper continued, trembling for my answer.

“Of course I don’t mind! You’re still new to this modern world and it’s only fair that I happily answer any question you have.” I welcomingly answered.

“Then, wanna talk about what happened today?” Chomper asked again, this time reassured.

I obliged as we took off from Route 35 to Professor Elm’s lab in New Bark Town. Along the way, I discuss with Chomper various things from the radio waves granting speech to pokemon, Derek the d-bag, Ruth who seems like a decent guy, and other new elements that I’m looking forward to. I then see what appears to be a satisfying smile forming on Chomper’s snout as he takes in the info.


	3. Ch.3 Ghostly Shadows

“Oh my, what a discovery!” Professor Elm exclaimed.

“Indeed, such a breakthrough in pokemon science,” Professor Oak added, “Tell us, Jamie. What exactly happened in Goldenrod that led to such a phenomenon?”

Currently, I arrived in Professor Elm’s lab at around 11:30 pm and showed the two professors who were amazed at the sight of my talking pokemon. I know I was excited that the language barrier between my traveling companions and I are shattered, but for people who’s job is to study pokemon for a living, I wouldn’t be surprised if their jaws drop onto the floor at the discovery.

“If I remember correctly, Vineguard and I were in the Goldenrod Department Store when the Goldenrod Radio Tower suddenly emitted some radio waves that appear to grant nearby pokemon the ability to talk.”

“Mhm, that’s right.” Vineguard nodded.

While Vine and I are discussing the newly named: “Goldenrod Radio Tower Incident” with the professors, the other five pokemon converse among themselves about their new language.

“So, what do you guys think about being able to talk?” Chomper questioned.

“Well Chomp’, I’m lovin it. Another way to flex on the humans,” Tanker answered boastfully.

“I heard humans enjoy a good joke, so I plan to crack a couple of them and get some laughs,” Sparkbomb responded afterward.

“Ugh Sparky, your only form of humor is just pretending to be a pokeball, how original…” Blaze ridiculed, “And Tanker, you barely look any tougher than the average blastoise. Besides, I have a much more practical use, unlike you blockheads~ “

“Yeah? Whatcha thinkin of?” Tanker dared.

“I’m a ball, genius,” Sparky wisecracked, “Maybe you’re the blockhead here~”

“Hmph, whatever…” Blaze huffed, “Anyways, what better way to get everything I could ever want by finally speaking Jamie’s language. If I see a fur shampoo I want, fur lotion, or anything, all I have to do is ask~”

“Uhh, you go then... Makin your demands nice and clear…” Tanker feigned a smile.

“Hey… I know Jamie has our backs, but aren’t you going a little too far?...” Sparkbomb uneasily questioned, but keeping a lighthearted smile.

Blaze barked back,” Of course he would! I’ve burnt up anything he wants, it only makes sense he gives me what I want in return!”

As the three pokemon continue their conversation, Chomper turns to Sky, “So, what about you? Anything you want to do now that you could talk?”

Sky ponders for a minute, but couldn’t come up with anything, “I don’t know… What can I do really?”

“Anything you want. Jamie will always be there for you, like how he made sure I’m comfortable in this modern world I’m revived in.” Chomper answers reassuringly.

Sky gives a heartening smile and responded, “You’re right, thanks Chomper.”

“As long as we have each other, we’ll always be fine,” Chomper declared.

On that note, Vineguard and I are wrapping up our discussion regarding the “Radio Tower Incident” along with the current progress of tracking Team Rocket. Also, I received a task to investigate Mahogany Town because an old lady who runs the local souvenir shop disappeared one night.

“Who’s going to monitor the radio tower while we’re gone?” I asked

“Don’t worry about the radio tower, the chief officer sent reinforcements to the radio tower to investigate, just worry about investigating the disappearance of the souvenir shop owner.” Professor Elm reminded me.

“Indeed, we believe that Team Rocket has something to do with her disappearance.” Professor Oak added, “Also, we would like to learn more about the radio tower’s effects on your pokemon so would you mind leaving some of your pokemon at the lab for testing?”

“What kind of tests? Does it involve bodily harm?” Vine bluntly asked, being suspicious.

“Oh no, not at all. Just basic check-up procedures and monitering bodily functions.” Professor Oak answered nervously.

Vineguard narrows his eyes still suspicious, but gives an, “alright then.” I thank the professors for the updates and Professor Elm for letting my team and I sleep in the lab’s meeting room again, then turn to my team for our upcoming mission.

“Heya guys, we got ourselves another task to complete,” I announced.

“Oh boy… here we go again…” Blaze retorted aloof.

“Oh boy! What do we gotta do!?” Tanker contrasted with enthusiasm.

“Sorry Tanker, but you and Blaze will stay back in the lab. The two professors want to do some testing on you guys.” I answered.

“Aww, really? I can’t wait to start kickin more butt!” Tanker said disappointed.

“If you are patient, I could pick out a place for us to train on~” I teased, which brought back Tanker’s enthusiasm.

“Alright! I won’t let you down!” Tanker shouted, which I give him a thumbs up.

“As long as those stinky scientists wash their hands before touching my sacred fur, there won’t be any problems here~” Blaze sassed.

“Ugh, just behave yourself…” I countered.

I then inform the rest of my team about the mission and we all got ready for bed since we are leaving at 7:00 am tomorrow. Well, I got ready for bed after Blaze quickly shouted across the lab, “Hey~ Don’t forget about brushing my fur Jamie~ I gotta look my best after all~”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming darn it…” I called back.

After grooming Blaze, I climb into my air mattress and almost drift off to sleep when Sparkbomb calls me over.

“Hey, Jamie… I’m pretty excited to ‘shed some light’ on this mystery.” Sparky joked while lighting up the room slightly with electrical crackling.

I then chuckle and counter joked, “Are you sure you have no hands, that was a good ‘punch-’ line.”

Sparky and I laugh for a good minute before sleep peacefully silences us.

Next morning at 7:00 am:

I’m no morning person. My phone alarm barely woke me up, instead, nearly getting electrocuted from Sparkbomb was what it took fully wake me up and get ready for the task at hand. I proceed to my usual morning activities, get breakfast for everyone, and packing up my stuff before departing off to Mohagony Town with Vineguard, Sparkbomb, Sky, and Chomper at 8:00 am.

Once we arrive at Mahogany Town at 8:30 am, I hop off Chomper’s back and let out my other three pokemon and we head straight for the souvenir shop. At the shop, we greet three officers already there and Vineguard and I begin searching the place for clues.

As we enter the store, Everything seems organized and untouched, as if no one entered the store. “It looks like there’s no struggle nor fight that took place in the store. If the store owner was abducted, the capture must take place outside the building,” Vineguard concluded after scanning the store for an hour.

“I must say, you have proven yourself as my most intelligent pokemon,” I commented.

“Deductive reasoning from surrounding details is how I track prey and detect predators in the forests that I used to live in. Even after you caught me, I make sure to practice my survival skills in my free time.” Vineguard explained, “I appreciate the flattery, but let us continue our work.”

I nod and we continue examining the place. Outside, Sparkbomb is securing the perimeter of the store while Chomper and Sky are level grinding on nearby pokemon, but will return if Sparky fires a thunder into the air as a distress beacon as planned earlier. I look at the shopowner’s papers and computer on the desk and see if there are any clues. I only find shipping information regarding the store’s inventory and a list of items sold over the past month. Next, I boot up the computer and found logs of customer purchases and Microsoft Excel spreadsheets that house various information. What I do notice is that the documents are all up to date, leading me to believe that the store owner was present last night logging customer purchases and store inventory.

“Anything?” Vine checked in.

“Only customer purchase and store inventory logs, all up to date.” I reported, “She must be here last night updating the logs.”

Vine immediately responded, “Check the security feed for last night then.”

I did as told and watch the old lady walk outside locking the door and what happened next made me jump out of my skin. “Oh… fuck…” I murmured in shock and dread.

“Well? What did you see?” Vine asked as he directed two officers to my location. I rewind the security footage and show the shopowner’s shadow surrounded by two humanoid shadows that whisk the shopowner away. “Hmm, I see a smaller shadowy figure to the left of the abduction,” Vine pointed out.

“I heard the shopowner has a granddaughter, that might be her,” one officer suggested.

“If that’s her, then why didn’t she reported the kidnapping to us?” the other officer pondered.

I notice two officers who weren’t there before coming into the store. They said that they are covering my shift while I grab lunch, which I should since the time is 1:00 pm. I thank them and bring Vineguard out of the store, where I have Sparkbomb activate our “distress signal” and Sky and Chomper fly over to our area.

“What happened here?” Chomper questioned.

“Is everyone okay here?” Sky added.

“No emergency, just going to get lunch,” Vineguard informed the two.

While I whip out my pokegear to search for a place to eat, two picnicker girls stomp over to our area.

“HEY! Was it YOUR electrode that caused that horrendous sound!” the first girl demanded.

“Yeah! Like, what the heck!” the second girl added, just as annoyed.

“Oh, my bad there…” Sparkbomb apologized.

“It can talk?...” the first girl said surprised.

“Radio Tower Incident.” Vine blurted out.

“Whatever… Why can’t you use any BETTER looking pokemon!” the first girl criticized.

“Like, you can BARELY cuddle with them!” the second girl also criticized

“Our appearance is none of your concern.” Vineguard retorted.

“Don’t you get smart with us!” the second girl counter retorted.

“You’re just an ugly freak, know your place!” the first girl declared forcefully.

Sparkbomb’s POV:

I take a huge sigh before thinking, “Oh boy, it’s those types of trainers who care only about the looks of a pokemon. I’ve dealt with plenty of them as a young voltorb and I’m not letting more mess with me now.” Fortunately, I have a plan.

“Hey girls, is your typing poison? Cuz your attitude is pretty ‘toxic’,” I quipped.

“Hey! Watch yourself!” the first girl harshly answer back. 

I only smile smugly as I press on, “So fire type then?... Not only are you a ‘hothead’, but that face… Whew! That’s quite a ‘hot’ mess right there!”

I definitely hit a nerve since the girls are fuming right now. The second girl snapped back, “Go back to the dump where you were born in, you useless foul creature!”

“Ouch, that hit a little too close to home,” I thought while flinching from her words.

“That’s right!!! Keep that stupid mouth shut!!!” The second girl pushed back.

I quickly quipped back, “Whoa, did you use the move ‘scary face’ to lower my speed? Or are your faces always that scary~”

They gasp from the surprise roast and a few bystanders started snickering, including Jamie. I better keep up the momentum if I’m going to make them leave by tacking on, “It’s not like my ability is ‘shadow tag’ cuz you’re free to walk away… Just don’t get your panties in a twist too much or you’ll end up tying your legs together.”

That ticked them off as they march over ready to kick me like a soccer ball, but I figure it’ll be hilarious if I wait till the last minute to dodge the kick with my high speed, which happens soon after and the girls fall flat on their backs. I can barely count how many bystanders just bursted into laughter from the stunt.

“I heard the move ‘high jump kick’ results in crash damage if you miss~” I patronized, “I recommend the move stomp. As in, take your nasty attitude and stomp away from us.”

“Grrrrr!!! GET LOST!!!!!” the girls exclaimed.

Before I could say anything, I heard a, “Can’t get lost if there’s a map on my wrist~” coming from Jamie as he shouts to the girls. They only huff at the response, which was the cherry on the top of roasting those girls to cinders.

Jamie’s POV:

“You should be a fire type Sparky, that was an epic burn!” I complimented.

“Hehehe… Pleasure’s all mine Boss.” Sparky responded, “So, where are we going to eat up. Not that I could eat anything organic…”

“There’s a place at Ecruteak City where we could dine in. Also, I brought plenty of batteries for you to snack on Sparky.” I answered.

We all agree and decided to walk there to discuss today along the way. As usual, Vineguard is his usual quiet self, Chomper is eyeing everything he sees and ask about it, Sparkbomb rolls into several bushes pretending to be a pokeball and scaring passersby, and Sky wonders if the previous confrontation with the girls could have been solved more peacefully. On that subject, I’ve had similar confrontations with not so friendly students in my high school years. Scratch that, my whole school year I had my fair share of d-bags from a kid till now. As a result, I mainly acted antisocial, fearing that opening my mouth would only create more problems down the line, but I wish I could smooth talk my way out of problems like Sparkbomb.

“Something on your mind, Boss?” Sparkbomb rolled over to my side.

“Oh?”I jumped slightly from his sudden entrance before responding, “It’s nothing…”

“You sure? Cuz it doesn’t feel like ‘nothing’.” Sparky queried.

I look around to check for eavesdroppers before caving in, “Remember what I told you a few months ago about my past?”

“I see… Now that I could talk to you, I think should repeat myself from the last time so you truly understand what I mean.” Sparky suggested. I nodded and he proceeds, “Not everyone will appreciate us for who we are. Some only demand things from you while some only view your downfalls, and that’s okay. What’s not okay is to let these types of people discourage us from becoming successful.” I nodded while holding back some tears. “Everyone has potential and should strive for greatness to better themselves, the few that do care, and future friends. You have my word that I’ll always have your back and what we discuss stays between us until you’re ready to share,” Sparkbomb finished.

I wanted to pull Sparky in for a hug, but not only will it draw the attention of the others, but his static ability might also paralyze me. I opted in for a, “Thanks Sparky, I too have your back.” I honestly didn’t think a prankster like Sparky could be so sincere. This is, after all, the same electrode who thought it would be hilarious if it snuck into the fuse breaker of several pokemarts and sap all the electricity, leaving the store in darkness and pretending to be a pokeball only to explode in people’s faces throughout Kanto, all while keeping a massive shit-eating grin plastered on his smug face. This explains Sparkbomb's nature as "impish".

At last, we all arrive at Ecruteak City and we found the restaurant on my pokegear that serves both people and pokemon. We grab a patio table, and fortunately, the restaurant has food that will satisfy every team member I brought over, aside from Sparkbomb who will be sapping electricity from the batteries I brought over. As Sparky contently “eats” up, Sky goes for her natural seafood diet like remoraid, but grilled. Chomper orders beef steak out of curiosity of its taste in the modern world. Vineguard appropriately got a fried bug combo considering his species as “the flycatcher pokemon”. Lastly, I choose orange rice with pieces of beef as my dish since I’m trying to limit my intake of fast food given my slightly chubby belly.

Aside from the waiter surprised by serving talking pokemon for the first time and chatter among us, the only significant event that occurs during lunch is Lance radioing me about the progress of investigating Mahogony’s shopkeeper disappearance. He gives me a major tip regarding the souvenir shop: there’s a trapdoor on the floor that leads to Team Rocket’s old headquarters. I thank Lance for the info and continue eating along with my pokemon until we’re done at 3:30 pm.

“I recommend we fly back to Mahogany Town, we must deliver this new info to the officers,” Vine suggested. I pay the bill at around 4500 pokedollars, recall everyone into their pokeballs and hop onto Chomper’s back.

Once we reach Mahogany Town, I let out everyone and inform the officers about the trapdoor in the shop. It didn’t take long until the officers found the trapdoor leading to a tunnel of darkness and radioing in back up. Also, the shopowner’s granddaughter finally reveals that “some guys wearing shirts with a big ‘R’” did abduct her, but was told not to spill the beans if she wants her grandmother back alive.

I admit the abandoned headquarter appears spooky to the average outsider, but I didn’t expect Sky to be scared to death of going back into a Team Rocket base. She’s currently clinging onto me as if her life depends on it. As for the rest, Chomper is level grinding outside since he doesn’t fare well in cramp areas, Sparkbomb is tensing up, readying his electricity for a discharge, and Vineguard is scouting ahead, stealthily checking every corner without any fright.

After an hour of searching, we found only a few electronic devices on the first floor and police tech experts are extracting as much info as they could. On the second floor, Vineguard shushes Sparky, Sky, and me and warns, “Heads up, I hear movement. Follow me one at a time and don’t make a single sound.”

We get into a single-file line in the order of Vine, Sparky, me, and Sky. Vineguard creeps around every corner and beckons the rest to come along when he spots no threats. This goes on for the rest of the second basement floor until we reach the stairway to the third basement floor, where a Team Rocket grunt is guarding the stairway. “Radio for some officers Jamie, I’ll handle the grunt,” Vine commands as he swiftly snags the grunt with a vine whip and drags him over, making no sound. “Tell us exactly what you’re doing here if you want me to be nice…” Vine stares down threateningly while interrogating the bound grunt.

Surprisingly, the grunt immediately cracks with little resistance, “O-okay! Just don’t hurt me!” The simplified story from the grunt is that he and four other grunts are holding the Souvenir Store owner captive in the main office on the third bottom floor to recapture their headquarter without raising any alarms. He admits Team Rocket has something to do with the Radio Tower Incident but doesn’t know more. Once the interrogation ended, the officers I radioed reach our position and apprehend the grunt.

“Something feels off...” I thought, “Why would a hardened pokemon thief be begging for his life in front of a pokemon?”

After another hour of sneaking around in the mazelike structure, we finally reach the main office. The problem is that four golbats are patrolling the room before the main office.

Sparkbomb’s POV:

“No worries, I got this,” I stated while rolling toward the bat pokemons only for Vineguard to stop it.

“Halt, the grunts can easily hear your attacks.” Vine warned, “As reckless as your idea is, we could set up a defensive perimeter should the grunts deploy more pokemon to attack.”

“Even if I lack them, I’m all ears~” I awaited.  
Vine rolled his eyes before announcing the plan, “Ugh, here’s the plan: You must knock out all the golbats with one discharge and then get into position next to the stairway. If the grunts decide to counter-attack, Jamie and I will stab any pokemon that gets too close, and Sparky and Sky, cover us with thunder and ice beam respectively.”

“Are you sure this will work?... I’m feeling pretty nervous about this...” Sky shivers in anxiety.

“We have the element of surprise and we dug ourselves into defensive positions. Rest assured that they have little to no reliable options to eliminate us.” Vineguard reassured. “Whenever you’re ready Sparky…”

I begin the plan by rolling up to the golbats and provoking them,“What’s up big mouths, care to chat~”

“Ooh, you’re going to regret those words!” the lead golbat shrieked back in its language while preparing an attack.

“How so, you look like nothing!” I taunted in return.

“We have you four to one!” golbat threatened while preparing a wing attack.

“...I like those odds…” I quoted before unleashing a massive discharge in the center of the golbat cluster before rolling back to cover.

“What the...?, Who goes there!” a grunt yelled as they send out a raticate, ekans, drowsy, and grimer. 

“Focus on the grimer Sparky and Sky!” Vine shouted as he powers up with growth.

“Must be difficult to stab sludge,” I thought as I launch blast after blast of lightning bolts toward the grimer along with Sky freezing it in place. Once that’s done, we blasted the ekans with our attacks while Vine uses knock off on the drowsy and Jamie stabs the pinned down radicate with his survival knife.

Jamie’s POV:

“That’s it, let’s move up! And get those vines ready Vineguard!” I called out.

“Got it!” Vine responds as he swiftly dashes into the room and binds all the rocket grunts with all four of his vine whips. I take the opportunity to cut the old shop owner from her rope bondage with my knife. This was when more officers arrive in the main office where Vine presents to the officers his bound preys.

At 8:00 pm:

I can safely say that our mission in Mahogany Town was a major success. The shop owner is reunited with her granddaughter and offered a mountain of berries as thanks, police extracted several pieces of intel in the rediscovered Rocket HQ to continue the quest of wiping Team Rocket out of Johto, and my team demonstrated their ability to infiltrate and battle with tactical coordination. Currently, we’re resting up in the pokemon center.

“Oh man, the way we sneak around that hideout was epic!” Sparky exclaimed, “We were like ghosts navigating the shadows!”

“We sure did…” I responded exhausted, then I remembered something, “Wait, where’s Chomper?”

“Sorry I’m late guys, I got some big news.” Chomper bursts into the pokemon center as if on cue. Regardless, I give him a thumbs up and beckon him over to our area.


	4. Ch.4 Risky Road

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Halfway done with this story!!! Massive thanks to those who are still reading this story and to those who just discovered this story, hope you are enjoying it. Once again, I gladly accept any constructive criticism to improve the quality of my future stories :D

“Wow! Congrats Chomper!” I exclaimed with my team also intrigued, “You reached lv. 57!”

“That’s right!” Chomper replied, proud of his achievement, “I just replaced the move ‘take down’ with my newly learned move: iron head.”

Currently, I’m sitting in a circle with Sky, Sparkbomb, Vineguard, and Chomper, who just arrived, around a table with a large basket of berries in Mahogany Town’s pokemon center discussing today’s events.

“Excellent. Adding steel type attacks open up more type coverages,” Vineguard tiredly noted.

I then suggested, “We should explore some caves and see that new move in action against some rock type pokemon.” Then, I remembered, “Hey Sky, did you level up today?”

She responded unsure, “Well… I did learn the move ‘safeguard’, but I’m not sure if the move will be useful…”

“She must be around lv.53 then, dragonairs do learn that move around lv.53,” I thought. I also sadly considered, “Damn, I remember now that dragonairs evolve to their final form at lv.55. It’s a shame considering how cute Sky is in her current form.”

“Ooh, what’s that move?” Chomper asked.

“It’s a status move that protects everyone in the party from non-volatile status effects like burning, paralysis, etc,” Vineguard explained, “If we stay close to Jamie, who has plenty of healing items, then the move won’t be needed.”

“Oh, okay then…” Sky nodded, “Just wish I could be more useful…”

“Hey, no worries,” Sparkbomb cheered Sky up, “Your moveset of dragon rush, fireblast, ice beam, and aqua tail is quite the arsenal. Far from useless, I must say.”

“Yeah, you gotta show me those cool moves more often!” Chomper wished.

I look over to see Sky blushing and give her back a pat. Then I added, “Welp, that’s my girl! Anyways, I hate to interrupt, but shouldn’t we head back to Professor Elm’s lab already.”

“Oh, right,” Sparkbomb remembers, “According to that clock on the wall, we really have been here for quite a while. It’s around 9:30 pm. Buuut, before we go, I was wondering Vine...”

“Yeah?” Vineguard replied while setting down the magazine he’s reading.

“You haven’t said a word since we got here,” Sparky points out, “Got anything you want to say?”

“Like…?” Vine questioned while raising an eyebrow.

“Well, how about Sky’s moveset the rest of us were discussing. Surely you’ve got something interesting to add…” Sparkbomb answers, attempting to smoothen Vineguard’s rigid persona.

Vineguard then sighs and states, “Sky, in case you are doubtful of your moveset, just know that you have a large amount of potential just like other dragons. It all takes time and effort to achieve that potential.”

“Oh, umm, that’s great to know, thanks…” Sky replied awkwardly.

“Still not one for conversations Vine?” I jumped in.

“I’m not a fan of casual conversation,” Vineguard bluntly puts out.

“Why is that? I’m curious.” Chomper asked.

I don’t know if it was just me, but I swear I just saw Vine fume slightly from Chomper’s question before calmly responding, “I’d rather not answer your question at the current moment. Anyways we should head back to the lab now.”

“Not bad for today, although you could be more expressive,” Sparky suggested, “Other than that, I’m ready to ‘roll’ Boss.”

I give Sparky a thumbs up and we started packing up our gear. Once I got everyone else into their pokeballs, I hop onto Chomper’s back and we start our flight back to Professor Elm’s lab. Along the way, he bombards me with several questions about the modern world, which I happily answer. However, one question left me stumped: ”Hey Jamie, why is Vineguard so… quiet...?” I don’t know how to answer this question, unfortunately, but Chomper adds another difficult question, “I also notice that many trainers have raichus and jolteons, but no electrodes… Why is that?”

Of course, I know that people rarely have bonds with electrodes because they “are uninspired pokeballs with faces” or “they explode all the time and are a safety hazard”; some even go as far as to call it the worst pokemon in Kanto. I admit that my electrode is mischievous, but it means no harm. I couldn’t bear myself to trash talk electrodes after taking the time to train one, so I instead explained half of the truth, “Well Chomper, some people simply prefer certain pokemon over another…” Hopefully he won’t ask for a more detailed explanation.

“What about Vineguard?” Chomper asked again, “What did we do to make him like this…?”

After a good five minutes of carefully choosing my words, I answered, “I wouldn’t take it too personally. He’s been this way since the start of our journey.”

“Um, okay then.” Chomper nodded.

For the rest of the flight to the lab, I look back at the many questions Chomper asked me till now. Back in my Kanto journey, I just point out things that modern society has and Chomper would be amazed for at least half an hour. However, I realize that the ability for Chomper to speak now allows him to ask me more complicated questions, some of them being thought-provoking questions that I took for granted. I fear that his questions might eventually touch the negative realities of this world that I’ll have a difficult time explaining, but, I understand that being my pokemon means I’m responsible for getting Chomper used to the modern world. He is after all, naive and that’s also his nature.

At last, we made it to Professor Elm’s lab where I left Tanker and Blaze with Professor Elm and his researchers. I enter the lab with everyone else behind me and greet the lab assistant. The assistant excuses himself to one of the many rooms in the lab then comes back to inform me that the two professors are just finishing up their experiments and will be with me soon. I turn to my team and let them know, “I’m going to the meeting room to unpack there, so look for me there if there’s a problem.” The rest nodded and I’m off.

Chomper’s POV:

“Hey, guys, how close are we to stopping Team Rocket?” I asked, hoping to start a conversation.

“We only won ONE battle out of many,” Vineguard snapped, annoyed for no apparent reason, “We practically declared war against a new covert Team Rocket, and ONE battle is not enough to decide the outcome of a war.”

“But... I’m just curious…” I reluctantly said.

“Doesn’t matter!” Vine snapped back again.

I recoiled from the outburst. “What did I do wrong…?” I questioned myself.

The other two pokemon looked in shock at the event. “Whoa Vine, that’s a little too harsh don’t you think?” Sparkbomb defended me.

“I agree, what did he do to deserve that?” Sky also defended me.

Vineguard looked as if he was caught off guard. I could sense a small amount of fear in his eyes for the first time. Then, he takes a deep breath and states, “I’m just saying, war is never pretty. I- I mean no harm…”

“If there’s a reason for your crankiness, let us know.” Sparky offered.

“Yeah, we’re here for you,” Sky added.

“Um, no hard feelings here. You can tell us.” I followed the two.

“It’s nothing…” Vine replied.

“You sure? Cuz it doesn’t feel like ‘nothing’.” Sparky queried, “I know this because the Boss said those exact words many times including this afternoon.”

“Really. It’s nothing…” Vine insisted.

“Suit yourself then,” Sparkbomb said, and nearly on cue, I see Jamie coming back.

Jamie’s POV:

“Everything’s all set up in the meeting room again. Although, I wonder how many times Professor Elm will let us stay in his meeting room,” I announced, “Anyways, what are you guys up to?”

I only received an awkward silence as the four looked at each other nervously. Vine eventually stepped up, “I had an outburst on Chomper. I was too stressed out to control myself and I take responsibility for my poor actions.”

“I see…” I noted, “Well, this team functions best if we all trust each other, and that means that Chomper must trust you enough to be open to you. That outburst you mention only harms that trust.”

“I understand,” Vineguard nodded.

“Very good, I also trust you to release your stress in less destructive ways to prevent another outburst.” I calmly added.

“I will,” Vineguard nodded again.

At last, the two professors along with Tanker and Blaze arrive to greet me and the team.

“Hello there Jamie, we’ve heard about your success at Mahogany Town and we want to personally congratulate you and your pokemon,” Professor Oak said.

“Oh, thanks. Just doing our job.” I replied bashfully. “The shop owner is now safe and sound.”

“That’s right! You showed them what’s up!” Tanker exclaimed.

“At least those uglyheads got what they deserve,” Blaze added.

“Does that mean we’re getting close to stopping Team Rocket?” Chomper asked.

“The information retrieved from Team Rocket’s computers will give us several clues on Team Rocket’s current whereabouts and their agenda, but it will take some time to fully gather and decode their message,” Professor Elm answered, “Once we do, I bet the police can launch several raids to round up the remainder of Team Rocket.”

“What do we know right now?” Chomper asked.

“Not much right now, I’ll let you know if I receive any updates.”

“Say, Professor, do you mind if we sleep in the meeting room for the third night...?” I asked nervously.

“Hmm, I suppose one more wouldn’t hurt. However, I’m holding a meeting with other pokemon researchers tomorrow, so make sure you pack up early.” Professor Elm answered.

I thank him once more and we all head off to the meeting room to sleep. On the way, two things occur. First, I noticed two clipboards containing documents pertaining to Tanker and Blaze. It shows their movesets; Tanker has skull bash, water pulse, bite, and earthquake while Blaze has flamethrower, fire blast, will o wisp, and extrasensory. Additionally, the documents show that the radio waves “increases the intelligence and creative thinking of the pokemon to be on par to that of an average human as opposed to the animalistic nature of non-psychic type pokemon”. Second, Professor Oak stopped me for a sec and gives me my first paycheck of the week. I thank him as well and plan to scan the check worth 30,000 pokedollars into my bank account once I reach the meeting room with my phone.

Inside, I could see five of my pokemon already in a conversation with only Vineguard going to sleep earlier. Chomper boasted about his new move in his moveset: ancient power, crunch, wing attack, and iron head as his newest attack. Tanker seems interested in “those science guys using their sciency machinery”. I cringe internally from those words, but they are leagues better than Blaze calling out that “some of those guys smell like they haven’t showered in months~”. I’m pretty exhausted from today’s mission so I’m getting ready to head to bed early. I brush my teeth and get into my sleeping bag only for Blaze to interrupt.

“Hey, Jamie! You didn’t forget to brush my fur now did you~?” Blaze accused.

“I didn’t forget, I just want to skip a day for once…” I retorted.

“Come on, I’ve been a good girl and those scientists didn’t even brush my beautiful tails~” Blaze pressed on.  
“Did you scare them off with your cursing abilities?” I bluntly asked.

“Oh yeah! This girl here makes sure everyone knows not to touch her tails wrong, such a savage! Wooo!” Tanker butts in.

“W- well…” Blaze replied nervously.

“Naughty girls must be punished~” I teased, although it does sound suggestive if taken out of context.

“Oy. The way you said it sounds rather perverted…” Blaze said disgusted, “Now can you please brush my fur and tails.”

I eventually cave in and grab the fur brush that Blaze herself picked out in Celadon City and groom her. The brush does have good color coordination with ninetales’ fur, so I’ll give her that. After grooming, she happily wraps her paws around me while nuzzling and licking my face in affection. I appreciate the act, but considering how affectionate Blaze becomes after showing her an ounce of attention really makes me question if she’s being genuine. Either way, I lie onto the bed and drift off to sleep.

One week later:

Starting last Tuesday to now, my only task was to patrol route 45, the southern entrance to Blackthorn City resided by plenty of dragon pokemon that can’t fall into Team Rocket’s hands. Some of the documents in Team Rocket’s computer indicate the goal of raising enough money for future operations. Also, this allows some of my pokemon to level grind on the wild pokemon yielding reasonable amounts of experience. There’s also plenty of trainers from Blackthorn City to battle and gain levels. Throughout the week, Tanker fought both wild and trainer pokemon relentlessly and without breaks, reaching an impressive lv.60. I had to beg the guy to take a moment to settle down and tease him with several berries, but he reassured, “Don’t worry, I promise you the grind is so worth it!” It certainly was when he finally learns hydro pump to replace skull bash.

Chomper is the second-highest level pokemon at lv.59 with Sky and Vineguard being third highest at lv. 58. Vine wanted to perform a feat that none of his kind could do: learn the move ‘power whip’ in his current form instead of typical bellsprouts learning power whip as an egg move. Other than that, he’s satisfied with his current moveset of vine whip, poison jab, knock off, and growth. Sky also found a necklace with a heartshaped stone and wearing it really adds to her cuteness. I try not to look at her directly to avoid blushing, but Sky caught on and forcing me to blush in front of everyone became her life goal.

Sparkbomb reached lv. 55, allowing it to learn gyro ball. However, the attack deals more damage the slower the user is to the opponent, meaning it’s useless for speedy pokemon like Sparkbomb with moves like discharge, thunder, swift, and explosion. Blaze simply lazed around with little to no task, only battled a little bit if I tempted her with berries. This means that she only leveled up to lv.53.

Today was different however, Professor Elm radios me to come over to the lab; the police found something important. I quickly spread the news to my team and start packing up. The flight to the lab only took five minutes considering my patrol location being close to New Bark Town. Inside, I see the two professors discussing with the police chief, all have concern looks on their faces. I let out my team and ask, “So, what’s going on with Team Rocket?”

“After data mining Team Rocket’s software and interrogating captured grunts, It’s clear that Team Rocket is preparing a special operation known as Project Cerebellum.” Chief Officer Jenny announced.

“Anything specific you know about Project Cerebellum?” Vineguard considered.

Chomper nervously added, “What’s Project Cerebellum about exactly…?”

“We still don’t know the specifics on the operation, that’s why I need you to head to Whirl Islands, Team Rocket’s makeshift headquarters.” Officer Jenny requested.

“Damn, I was just getting used to my daily relaxation…” Blaze sulked.

Fear clouds Sky’s mind as she worriedly asked, “U- Umm… Will this mission be dangerous…?”

“I don’t know exactly, so I must order as much back up as possible for the task.” Officer Jenny answered with concern, “Just be ready for the infiltration on Whirl Islands by this midnight.”

“Damn, this mission sounds epic so far,” Tanker anticipated with excitement.

Sparkbomb notices the overwhelming nervousness and tries to lighten up the mood, “Hey, it’s not like we are fighting a tyranitar or anything on that level.”

“I wouldn’t jinx the mission this early if I were you,” I commented. I got my next paycheck of 30,000 pokedollars and head out with my team to prepare for tonight.

At 11:55 pm:

I stocked up on dozens of hyper potions and full heals and checked the condition of everyone. Aside from a few nerves, we’re good to go. At the Whirl Islands, I see several officers preparing their arcanines, manectrics, and mightyenas for the infiltration along what I could presume to be, the coast guard and their armament of water pokemon. I was assigned the northeast entrance of the Whirl Island with only two officers as opposed to the others with many.

“Oh yeah! Let’s get this party started! Wooo!” Tanker shouts while readying his guns.  
“Ugh, let’s get this ‘party’ over with, I wanna go to bed already…” Blaze complained.

“I don’t like this at all… What are we walking ourselves into…” Sky worried.

“Probably a handful of grunts, it’s like Mahogany, but bigger,” Sparky reassures Sky.

“Sky is right, we don’t know what we are messing with. Just be ready for anything.” Vine indicates.

“Okay, time to make use of my new move,” Chomper mutters to himself.

Once the lead officer radios the order for entry, I have Tanker and Vineguard enter first. Tanker points his cannons into the entrance while Vine slips inside and checks every corner of the room. He beckons the rest to enter once he’s sure the room is clear and checks the ladders leading to the bottom floor. Once my team and the officers enter, Vine lowers himself down a ladder. After hearing some struggling noises, I see Vineguard swiftly pulling two grunts up the ladder where the two officers apprehend the grunts. I recall Chomper, Tanker, and Sparkbomb into their pokeballs before climbing down with Blaze and Sky coming down after me. Vineguard directs me to a corner where I let out the three. The flash of the pokeballs got the attention of one grunt, which Vine dispatches with bashing his head to the cave walls, knocking him out cold. Once the two officers climb down, we continue raiding the makeshift base.

Sparkbomb’s POV:

So far, nothing exciting is happening. I thought the mission would have so more action. While Tanker and Vineguard are leading the way, I found a dark pathway that draws my attention. I could sense an electrical current somewhere in that pathway, further enticing me to go. Without anyone noticing, I sneak off into the dark pathway and I could feel the electrical current growing stronger. “Man, I can’t wait to see what I find. Heck, maybe I could find an important clue in this pathway and I’ll be the talk of the region,” I thought to myself. I eventually found the machine producing that alluring electrical current. It’s some sort of rectangular containment machine with many vileplumes inside with some cord attached to them. Some of them see me and begin banging on the walls of their imprisonment as if their lives are on the line. I’m not sure exactly what they are saying until I turn around and see two grunts each with a vileplume. “Uh oh…” I muttered.

“Hey! I don’t remember an electrode in our base! Sound the Alarm!” the first grunt screamed. The second grunt pulls a lever on the machine, which activates the alarm and the machine, sending shockwaves to force the vileplumes to release some sort of powder into the vents.

“Hurry! Destroy the machine and free my friends!” the vileplume outside begged in her own language and I follow suit with thunder. The attack disabled the machine and I smash a hole in the containment with a swift.

“Welp, you’re all free now,” I announced to the horror of the two grunts.

“A t- talking pokemon?!?!” the first grunt screamed in fear.

“There must be more of them!!!” the second grunt also screamed in fear, “We must send out the superweapon NOW!!!”

They run off terrified and I’m left clueless to what’s going on. “Hey, guys, what’s going on exactly…?”

“Did you bring friends along?” the vileplume asked worriedly.

“Uh… yeah…” I answered her uneasily.

“They're in grave danger! Don’t you know what Project Cerebellum is?!” she screamed just as afraid as those grunts and I shake my head in response and the vileplume gives me the rundown.

Jamie’s POV one minutes before the alarm goes off:

“Hehe, too easy.” Tanker boastfully whispered.

“Still, keep your head on a swivel,” Vine retorted.

So far we were able to sneak deep into the base, even the other groups were successful, but no one found anything valuable so far. What we did find is a giant metal door locked. “Maybe Sparky could create an electrical input to open the door. What do you think Sparky?” I suggested only for no response. “Sparky, are you there?” I call out only for no response. Suddenly the alarms start blaring out and I see something exit the vents.

“Sleep powder! Cover your nose and mouth!” Vine shouts and we all quickly do so. Grunts with gas masks are storming all over the place with several heading our way but were no match for Tanker unleashing hydro pumps into the crowd of grunts. Sky and Chomper are panicking over the chaos. Eventually, the sleep powder stop flowing out of the vents, but another problem occurs: the metal door opens up revealing a tyranitar.

“Oh great, who’s the dumbass who said we aren’t fighting a tyranitar?” Blaze sassed.

“Whatever… Let’s fall back and rethink a strategy!” I suggested, but Tanker refuses.

“Psh, no way, this sucker’s got nothin on m- AHHH!” Tanker boasted before receiving a powerful thunderbolt at point-blank range, severely crippling him.

“Tanker! Come back!” I screamed as I recall him into his pokeball and run back with everyone else to the ladder we came from.

Suddenly, I hear an intercom blaring around the base: “Tyranitar, destroy all the intruders. No survivors!”

“Yes… Master…” the tyranitar spoke in a deep, monstrous voice and creates a powerful sandstorm with his ability: ‘sand stream’.

“What?! It can talk?!” I shouted out of astonishment.

“Eeek Jamie!!! Let’s get out of here!!!” Sky screamed for her life.

Blaze agreeing, “Hell no am I getting near that freak! His sand is already ruining my beautif-”

“Focus on the mission girls! We nearly lost Tanker and Sparky is missing, I need you girls to step up your game!” Vineguard angrily shouts, cutting off Blaze mid-sentence.

“Oh shut up Vine, you don’t get to control my body!” Blaze retorted, also just as angry.

“Guys, we got company!” Chomper points out toward the approaching tyranitar.

“Then do something!!! Don’t just sit around doing nothing!!!” Vine yelled.

“Oh yeah, why don’t you do something instead of acting like a bossy poophead!!!” Blaze shouted into Vineguard’s face.

I lock eyes with the confused aerodactyl and commanded, “Use iron head, Chomper. Tyranitars are weak against steel type attacks!”

Chomper’s POV:

I go for the attack, which stumbles the towering threat but doesn’t do lasting damage. “Now what?!” I shouted to Jamie as I dodge barrages of pointed stones in my direction. I start freaking out more when the tyranitar notices something and a maniacal smile appears on his face.

“Maybe we aren’t so different…” the tyranitar suggested, “Surrender and my master won’t order your death.”

“D-death?!?!?!” I panicked.

“Yes…” the tyranitar continued with that devilish smile, “You are nothing more than a burden to Team Rocket. We are untouchable now and it’s a matter of time until we crush you like bug types… Surrender now to avoid your cruel faith…”

Never have I been more afraid for my life than the day my kind went extinct millions of years ago. All the training we did, all the good times we had, all the challenges we have beaten, only to be wiped out. “I- I’ll think about it...” I whimpered as I fly off to Jamie. “Uh… Jamie...the tyranitar wants us to surrender… or we’ll be wiped out” I continued whimpering.

Jamie’s POV:

As soon as Chomper finished his sentence, Vine explodes in absolute frustration, “SURRENDER?!?! YOU WANT TO SURRENDER AFTER ALL THE MESSUPS WE HAD?!?! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR GODDAMN MIND?!?!”

“I- I don’t understand, what do you mean,” Chomper questioned, completely bewildered.

“You don’t understand ANYTHING do you?!” Vine sighs and points his vine to Sparky who reappeared.

“He was the one who triggered the alarms and got us into this mess.” I clarified to the confused aerodactyl.

Now the tyranitar found us and unleashed a powerful earthquake, knocking out Blaze and Sparkbomb and severely damaging the remaining pokemon. “I offer you again. Surrender or DIE.”

Vineguard steps forward to the tyranitar and shouts, “Go! Save yourselves! I’ll hold him off!”

“But you won’t survive for long!” I shout back, stepping closer to the ladder.

“Someone’s gotta take one for the team!” He solemnly replied.

There’s no way I’m going to let my pokemon die, even as a heroic sacrifice. I ready three of my pokeballs to save my friends. “Oh no, you won’t!” I sharply yelled as I recall Vine, Chomper, and Sky and then climbing the ladder as fast as I can until I can finally see the moonlight shining outside the Whirl Islands. I collapse outside the cave entrance and look up at the moon, exhausted. “We almost lost our lives by driving off the cliff of this risky road, it may feel like we hit rock bottom of said cliff, but I promise you all that I’ll bring back onto the road to success to the best of my ability.”


	5. Ch.5 Lifeblood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Massive thanks to those who are still reading this story. Unfortunately, I have to go back to college soon so that means my chapter upload schedule will change from every Sunday to every second Sunday. I apologize for those looking forward to me continuing this story. I assure you all that this story will have an ending.

Sunday at 2:00 pm:

I sit in a circle with my team on Route 39 silently and solemnly. My head was down from being both downhearted and exhausted, but I could still glance at the expression of my pokemon with worry and regret. Well, with exceptions like Vineguard sitting at attention, Tanker forming an awkward, reassuring smile, and my least favorite: Blaze acting aloof. It’s as if she completely forgot or ignored what just happened from the previous Wednesday to now.

Last Wednesday at 3:00 am:

What woke me up from my thoughts outside the Whirl Islands’ caves are screams after screams of officers running out of the caves in terror. I opened my eyelids as far as my exhausted self can bear to see some officers carrying their injured pokemon in their arms. Some were carrying their injured colleagues, and one officer per island is radioing for an emergency evacuation. I looked into the cave on my island to see no one coming out. “Stupid me! Of course, no one could leave if there’s a killer tyranitar blocking the goddamn way…” I bitterly whispered to myself. I continued pondering out loud bitterly, “First, Sparkbomb set off the damn alarms. Next, Tanker got decimated. Then, an argument broke out mid-battle. And finally, Chomper freaked out and stopped attacking, putting everyone at the mercy of the tyranitar. Everything went so wrong, and I put many lives at risk all because I couldn’t control my own pokemon.” Now that I think about it, I didn’t even try to control my pokemon. “If losing the pokemon champion battle didn’t prove me a failure, then this massacre certainly does…” I spoke out loud somberly.

Suddenly, three flashes occurred, and out came my three non-fainted pokemon, barely clinging onto life. I glanced at the three in shame before muttering, “I’m sorry guys… I’m sorry I let you guys down for the second time.”

Out of the three, Sky winced before quickly slithering over and embracing me in her coils and looking straight at my eyes. “Jamie, please… Don’t be sorry… You didn’t let us down now or before… We can figure something out together,” Sky gently stated.

“What now?” I doubted, “You saw with your own eyes what happened down there. We were a complete joke against that tyranitar. I feel like a failure for not recognizing our blatant fl-”

Sky cut me off with her tail and gently responded, “First off, you are not a failure. We all have our bad days. Sec-”

“Ahem, Sky and Jamie, may I add a few words?” Vineguard interrupted as he hopped closer with Chomper behind him.

“Um, sure. Go ahead,” Sky obliged.

“I had a feeling that you trained us differently than other humans training their pokemon. Is that right?” Vineguard questioned.

I replied, “Yeah, I use your personalities as a blueprint on how to train you guys. For you, I noticed your sharp, tense, and laser focus fighting style when we first met and figured that fast vine whip lashes to immobilize your opponents followed by the surgical precision of poison jabs stabbing your opponents in pressure points. I would never force you guys to be anything you don’t want to be.”

Vineguard nodded and declared, “This, right here, is exactly why I respect you as a trainer and also believe you are far from a failure. Training up our strength while also preserving our values is an outstanding and respectable feat, with several drawbacks that you mentioned earlier.”

“What do you mean?” I asked confused.

“Does ‘I put many lives at risk all because I couldn’t control my own pokemon’ ring any bells?” Vineguard asked back. I nodded and he elaborated, “Due to your training style encouraging individual growth, we fail to work and grow as a team. As you experienced, this results in a lack of coordination and conflicts rising.” 

Now I understand what’s wrong. Since the beginning, I didn’t want to be the type of trainer who acts like a dictator to their pokemon and kill off their individuality, independence, and creative thinking all to get some “strong pokemon”. I wanted my pokemon to demonstrate strength in their own ways and so, I trained my pokemon based around their personas and beliefs, hoping that their battling techniques would flow most naturally and they branch out to discover new techniques that fit them best. However, all I got, in the end, was an uncooperative, self-centered team who can’t contribute themselves to a single greater goal. An idea sparked into my mind, “Hey guys, once we all get healed up, I want to host a meeting, where we can all discuss how to better ourselves as a team.”

“Sounds good,” Vineguard accepted.

Emergency evacuation eventually arrived and transport all survivors to Olivine City, where the hospital and pokemon center worked all night long tending to the wounded. All of my pokemon were seriously injured with Tanker’s injury being nearly fatal. I made frequent visits to my three fainted pokemon in their recovery rooms, praying to Arceus that they’ll be alright.

Present-day:

After at least five minutes of tense silence, I finally ask everyone, “Well guys… Have you taken the time to reflect on our previous mission…?”

Everyone responds with varying facial expressions ranging from a definite nod from Vineguard to Sky nervously darting her eyes around. Still, Blaze is acting aloof, which is starting to bug me. I take note of their expressions and followed up, “If anyone’s ready, would you guys like to share your reflections...?” Still, no one dares to say a word for the next minute, until Sparkbomb rolls up slightly, preparing to announce. “Ready, Sparky?” I checked on Sparkbomb.

“Uh, ready.” Sparky replied with a nervous smile, ”So… um… sorry for what happened earlier… ehehe…”

“Hey, mistakes happen dude. It’s no biggie in the long run,” Tanker consoled.

Vine then indicated, “Just don’t deviate from the plan in the future and there will be no problems.”

“BIG whoop! What does this have to do with me again?!” Blaze shouted.

I take a massive breath before sternly responding, “We are having this team discussion because if we are going to work as a team better, we must be able to openly discuss our plans and battle strategies. Speaking of working as a team, this brings up the mid-fight argument that occurred while facing the tyranitar. Let’s take the time to resolve that conflict.”

“UGH! It’s not even my fault, Vine was the one who started it by acting like a bossy son of a bitch!” Blaze narcissistically accused. “I have to maintain my beauty standards. After all, I am a ninetales, a creature treasured for their beauty and you let this plantlike freak tell me what to do?!”

By now, I’m trying to contain my boiling blood and holding my lid down before it blows off. I knew that the girl was sassy, considering her nature, but this is taking things too far. “Is that all you have to say...?” I retorted, exhausted from her obnoxious attitude.

“Of course not! How can you act so uncaringly to such a majestic creature before you? Like, supermodels would pay an arm and leg to have my kind around and you couldn’t be bothered, what’s wrong with you?!” Blaze fired back at me.

I look around to see the rest of the team looking visibly uncomfortable from the scene. “H- hey Blaze… I’m sure Jamie cares, you just need to… um…” Sky suggested, but Blaze doesn’t seem to be having any of it.

“Girl, we both are major beauty icons in the Kanto region… Are you really going to let a bunch of nobodies dictate how you live?!”

“Well… But…” Sky sputtered before getting cut off.

“I’m done, Jamie. You don’t care about me after all! You can’t be bothered!! I’ll find another trainer with the wits and heart to ACTUALLY care for me!!!” Blaze declared and then prances off into the forest.  
“J- Jamie! We can’t leave her behind!” Sky worriedly stated, “Surely there must be some way to bring her back…”

“Vine, can you follow Blaze. Try not to get spotted, she may need time on her own to cool off.” I asked.

“Got it.” Vine nodded before also entering the forest.

Blaze’s POV:

Stupid Jamie! After everything I did and he still treats me like this. How does he not value me at all? Ugh, whatever... I need to find a better trainer and soon. Luckily, I see someone promising up ahead.

???’s POV:

“Well, I did it. I defeated Morty, the ghost type gym leader,” I thought to myself. Right now, I’m on Route 38 en route to Olivine City for my next gym badge. “However, Jasmine is a steel type trainer and I’ll need a fire ty-” I continued thinking until a marvel jumped out of the bushes. I rarely see ninetales in the wild and only the most accomplished trainers could ever dream of raising one. I can’t ruin this one in a lifetime opportunity…

“Why hello there…” the fox pokemon spoke, “Care to have a fire type on your team…? And a majestic one, I might add…”

I’m in shock. Not only is it a talking pokemon, but one willing to join my team… I’m trying to hold back excitement to avoid scaring it. “Um… Y-yes I do… my name is Ruth…” I awkwardly introduced myself.

The ninetales jumped slightly, as if it saw a familiar face, but continues, “Well Ruth, if you want this magnificent creature before you, there are several requirements you must fulfill…”

Vineguard’s POV:

“Wow… she really is serious…” I pondered while hiding in a bush under the shade, “She usually makes impulsive choices, but abandoning everything we worked for shows how ticked off she is.” Even though I was furious from her conduct in the Whirl Islands, I would rather she learns proper behaviors instead of leaving her. Still, it’s her life, her choices. I decide to accept her decision and head back when suddenly, I heard rustling and lay prone in the bush while using growth to power up my attacks and readying all four of my vines for an attacker. I soon realize that someone is stalking Blaze and the trainer up ahead. Once the sound is gone, I rush back to the rest of the team.

Blaze’s POV:  
“Lastly, for me to join you, you will have t- EEEK!!!” I shrieked as something jumped me and pinned me to the ground. I rolled around in the icky dirt only to see a houndour snarling at me. “AAAHHH! Get away from me!!!” I screamed as I unleash my strongest flamethrower attack at the houndour only it was unaffected by the attack. I try every attack I’ve got: fire blast, extrasensory, even will o wisp doesn’t do anything to the houndour who counterattacks with repeated smog and bites.

“You’re helpless, foolish one!” the houndour barked in his language, “The boss will be interested to see you…”

“H- HELP! RUTH!” I shouted, but he was mauled by two remaining houndours with the sole houndoom staring us down. Then, I tremble as four Team Rocket grunts come out from the forest each with a predatory grin.

Two grunts grab Ruth and the leader demanded, “You, kid! Hand over all your pokemon, including the ninetales, or would you rather never see daylight again!”

“I’ll never let you hurt her…” Ruth muttered, struggling to free himself.

“Leave him alone you good for nothing freaks!” I yelled at the leader as I use every remaining strength to free myself from the houndour only to get surrounded by the whole pack.

The group leader walks up to me with that creepy smile on his face and said, “Oh my fine feisty fox… it doesn’t matter how loud you scream... You are coming with us and no one’s going to save your spoiled ass now. We can’t have you interfering with Team Rocket’s plans again and how painful we end you depends on how you, ‘behave’ eehehehahahaHA!” The houndours snarl in agreement and I start whimpering about what to do now. I’m all alone… My friends are long gone… My life is over…

Suddenly, two vines launch themselves at me and the Team Rocket grunt leader and jerk us both into the forest along with Ruth shortly after where the vines’ owner, Vineguard, emerges.

Jamie’s POV:

“I’ll handle the first aid, you take care of the leader,” I commanded.

“Got it,” Vineguard replied as he binds the leader to the tree with one vine and grabs the other grunts with the other three vines while Sky guards the leader grunt.

I hear cannons roar and the ground rumbling as Tanker guns down the fire and dark type dogs using hydro pump while Chomper flings levitating fossils at the dogs with ancient power. Sparkbomb is locked in a duel with the lead houndoom. As for me, I open my bag and quickly found the hyper potion and spray Blaze’s countless wounds with the potion. I also notice that she’s looking ill with a purple mark on her forehead, indicating poison. I quickly take out an antidote spray her to neutralize the poison. Now I need to wrap the bandages I brought along around her wounds. Once I believe that her condition is stable, I bring Blaze’s face towards mine and whispered reassuringly, “It’s okay Blaze, you’re going to be alright. I promise.” She seems speechless from my actions, but I must move on to the trainer who’s just as injured as Blaze is.

As I work on the rather familiar-looking trainer, I hear Sparkbomb’s wisecracking getting louder as its duel gets closer. “You know… It’s kinda funny how the ball is toying with the dog don’t you agree…?” The houndoom only gets angrier and attacks faster. Sparkbomb then quipped “C’mon, before you destroy me, don’t you want to know what my favorite word is… SKIBIDI BOP MM DADA!!!” before exploding in the houndoom’s face. It was difficult not to stop and laugh at the scene before me.

15 minutes later:

The police finally arrive and arrest the four grunts as I sit with Ruth catching up. That’s where I learn that he finally decided to become a pokemon trainer and take on the eight gyms. He also explained everything that occurred when Blaze ran off. That seems to catch Blaze’s attention as she walks up to me sniffling with her head down. “Uh, Blaze? Is there something you want to say?” I wondered. 

She then asked, “Jamie… I don’t get it… After what I did earlier and yet you still come to my aid…? you patched me up…? And… a-” She stops only for her sniffles to grow into sobs and a downpour of tears erupt from her eyes. “WHHHHHYYYYY!?!?!? WHY JAMIE WHY?!?! AFTER COUNTLESS MONTHS OF ACTING LIKE A SPOILED BRAT AND EVEN RUNNING AWAY, YOU STILL SAVED ME, YOU HEALED ME, AND YOU EVEN PROMISED I’LL BE ALRIGHT!!!!! WHY ARE YOU BEING SO NICE TO ME AFTER HOW HORRIBLE I TREAT YOU GUYS?!?!?!” 

I quickly wrap my arms around Blaze in a gentle hug as she cries into my chest. I’m confused about what could traumatize her that much, but that question was answered when Ruth mentioned that they wanted to execute Blaze. I stare down at my teary fox pokemon in pity unsure how to react; it seems like she learned her lesson, but threatening death is overkill. It seems her crying got the attention of my other pokemon since I could see them huddling around Blaze and me, which finally gives me an idea. I soothingly tell Blaze, “The reason why I was nice to you, Blaze, is because we all are more than just friends. We are family. We are allowed to be different, but we will always look out for each other in the end. We all hope you know that we will always look out for you and also hope that you look out for us as well.” Blaze then turns her head away from my chest and eyes all my team giving her reassuring smiles and she too begins to smile with gratitude as well. 

“Alright Blaze, where’s that tough girl attitude. We can’t fight when we’re soft right?” I teased.

“Yes sir!” She replied, “Now, are we going to finish that meeting or what?”

Near the end of the meeting at 11:00 pm:

“Alright team, what did we all learn from the last mission?” I asked to confirm.

“We must fight together like a team!” Tanker declared. 

“We must move together like a team!” Sparkbomb said.

“We must communicate like a team.” Vineguard indicated

“We must think together like a team!” Chomper acknowledged

“We must stand brave like a team!” Sky stated.

“We must care for each other like a team!” Blaze finished.

“Very nice, team. You all understand that teamwork is the lifeblood of our fight against Team Rocket. So, let’s head off to bed now, ready for action tomorrow.

Tonight is chillier than normal. Fortunately, Blaze is generous enough to share her body heat to warm us up, but only Tanker, Sparkbomb, Vineguard, and Chomper can fit, leaving me and Sky as awkward cuddling buddies to stay warm, not that I mind cuddling up with an adorable dragon...


	6. Ch.6 Iron Will

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Thank you to those who are patient enough to wait for an extra week for my next chapter to come out. I'm doing everything I can to keep up with my college work and providing you all with an entertaining story.

After the meeting I held with my team on this route, I can safely say that I slept peacefully last night. Adding to the experience, I squeezed Sky’s coils into my sleeping bag, which acted as a secondary layer to keep me warm while my body heat kept her warm during the cold night. Today will be a brand new day where we will start training together as a team. Also, I’ve got several ideas I want to try out. What could go wrong…

“Oh, my~ we got ourselves some love-pidgeys~” I heard a sly female voice ask.

“Ooh? Let’s see how they’re doing~” Another sly male voice responded.

I brush off those voices, thinking it’s just my imagination until suddenly, I feel a presence behind me. I then opened my eyes and was startled as I found the owners of the voices, my recoil also woke up Sky.

“Morning lovers~ How did you two sleep last night?” Blaze teased.

Immediately, my face glows bright red as I spot Tanker and Blaze catching Sky and me in a compromising position, just like those unoriginal romantic comedies I read now and then. My mind is freaking out, unsure what to say or do to dispel their accusations. I glance over to Sky to see her face just as red as mine freaking out. “W- what do you guys mean by ‘lovers’?” Sky sputtered as she fidgeted her necklace.

“Oh, you know exactly what we meant~” Tanker joined in on the teasing, “So Jamie, how’re you able to take Sky to bed~?”

As if Sky’s face and mine couldn’t get any brighter red, they did. Also, if I could rank Sky’s embarrassment level one out of ten, I would say 100. “AHHHHH!!!!! JAMIEEEEE! YOU DIDN’T D- DO ANYTHING P- PERVERTED TO ME L- LAST NIGHT?!?!?! D- did you…?” Sky screamed in horror before hiding her face in my chest.

I give the two an annoyed glare before snapping back, “No, I’m not a goddamn deviant!”

“Pfttt! Hahahaha! Oh, your reactions were priceless! Ahahaha!” Blaze replied with a smug grin rivaling Sparkbomb’s.

“We totally got em Blaze!” Tanker added, “Well, we’re ready to train whenever you are. Hope you like your little wake-up call…”

“Oh, I suuure did!” I yelled back sarcastically before turning my attention to Sky, “Your alright girl? I think we should get up now.”

“Hey, Jamie, you said you’re not a perv, right...?” Sky asked, concerned.  
“Umm, yeah…” I awkwardly replied.

“Then, what’s with your 30-minute long ‘bathroom breaks’ that involves your laptop?” she questioned.

I quickly look away to hide more red coming back to my face before nervously replying, “Well… I guess I tend to enjoy watching poketube while I’m doing my business,” praying to Arceus Sky buys my alibi. Then, she gives a satisfied nod and we continue off to our morning activities before getting breakfast to start our day of training.

Vineguard’s POV:

After getting my daily dose of berries along with some bugs I caught for breakfast, I was ready to start training. While Jamie and Chomper flew off to Goldenrod City to buy new TMs, I was tasked with training the rest of the team in stealth and infiltration. After what happened in the Whirl Islands, covert battle strategies become more important than ever. “Sparkbomb, remind everyone what that vileplume told you about Project Cerebellum,” I requested.

“Right, so… Project Cerebellum is a research project by Team Rocket to use experimental radio waves to max out the levels of pokemon and enhance their intellect while forcing them to fight for Team Rocket. My guess is they want to form an army to compensate for losing control of the radio tower months ago,” Sparkbomb stated.

“Damn! But what about them radio waves that let us talk to people?! Did we get a super-powered buff from them waves?!! Ooh, how abo-” Tanker enthusiastically asked before I cut him off.

“I assume the radio waves earlier were just a prototype, but I digress,” I answered, before going back on topic, “My point is that Team Rocket is creating stronger and smarter pokemon and we too need to be on par with their new standards. For now, fighting smarter will give us more tactical options than fighting harder. Everyone following along?” Everyone nodded, which prompted me to continue, “Good, let’s start with the fundamentals. Your first exercise will be to lie belly down on the ground. The lower you are, the harder it is to spot you from a distance.”

Once the four pokemon got into their version of a prone position, I excused myself to examine them from a couple of meters away. The two girls are doing just fine, but just as I expected, Tanker’s large body size is still noticeable from a far distance and Sparkbomb’s ball-like body gives it no options. After my assessment, I return and have the four get back up.

“Yo Vine, dude, I hate to be a nuisance, but I don’t think this is working,” Tanker spoke up.

I then responded, “I can see that. Don’t worry about it Tanker and Sparkbomb, some camouflage paint should help you two out. However, I do advise you two to move slowly to reduce the risk of being spotted.”  
My next exercise was to have each one of them snag an oran berry from a nearby bush while staying undetected while I watch. Sky’s serpentine body gives her a major reduction in profile size and Sparkbomb’s speed allows it to minimize the amount of time outside of concealment. On the other hand, Tanker’s body size is too noticeable and Blaze’s fur sticks out like a sore thumb, also her reluctance to use foliage to “keep my fabulous fur clean” isn’t helping.

Meanwhile with Jamie and Chomper:

Chomper’s POV:

“Wow! So this is what you humans call a ‘laptop’!” I stared in amazement while Jamie and I are sitting on a bench in Goldenrod City.

“That’s right Chomper,” Jamie said as he’s booting up a folding piece of metal that’s glowing, “Currently, I’m booting up a TM I just got for you.”

“Wow, I’m learning a new move?! Thank you so much!!” I exclaimed while wrapping my wings around Jamie in a hug.

“Aww, don’t mention it,” Jamie replied bashfully, “Besides, I’m teaching you this move because I trust you can put this new move to good use.”

When Jamie turns the screen towards me, I see what looks like a rhydon forming jagged rocks around it before launching the sharp stones at its target. “I think I’ve seen this before, the tyranitar we fought before have this move.” I pointed out to Jamie.

“Mmhmm, tyranitars do learn this move by level up,” he nodded, “It’s called ‘stone edge’.”

“Cool, what does it do?” I asked, fascinated.

“I’ve noticed that you are more of a physical attacker, so I’ve thought of giving you a strong physical rock type attack to replace ancient power,” Jamie suggested.

I take a moment to ponder, “Well, I do like the ability to make fossils levitate as a party trick, but I’ll take your word.”

“Great, you won’t be disappointed!” Jamie exclaimed.

Back with the other five:

Tanker’s POV:

Welp, this morning’s exercises were definitely exhausting, but hey, I’ll take on any challenge in my way. Surprisingly, Vineguard is more chill than normal, didn’t think that chat earlier actually him to cool off that easily. Anyways, while everyone is resting their bums, I’ma head off to level grind on the wild rat pokemon. Although the once in a while magnemite makes this harder, I love the risk and the reward that I’ll be lucky ‘nough to battle a tauros or a miltank. After s’more levels, I see Chomper and Jamie finally return. “Yo, what took you guys forever!?!?” I shouted to them while they’re landing.

“Sorry for the long wait, guys. I had to ‘prepare’ a little surprise,” Jamie replied.

“Ooh, I wanna know this surprise,” I said, intrigued.

“Oh, Alright then,” Jamie said in a defeated voice before getting serious, “Chomper, show these guys your newest attack: stone edge.” At that time, Chomper flies up into the air and forms razor-sharp rocks around him before he launches a high-velocity barrage of stones into an open field.

“Woah! I do not wanna be on the receiving end of that attack! That was epic Chomper!” I shouted in amazement while the rest were just as impressed.

“Well, thanks gu-” Chomper replied only for a couple of bellies growling to interrupt.

“Oh, kay… who just used the move ‘growl’,” Sparkbomb quipped, which got everyone up into laughter.

“Alright guys, how about we take a lunch break then,” Jamie suggested as he looked inside his backpack for food, “Hmm, there’s only poke-kibbles and some berries, you alright with what we got?”

“You’re good, man! As long as you keep our bellies full, we got your back!” I replied while sticking one of my fingers out in what humans call a “thumbs up”.

Sparkbomb’s POV:

“Yo Chomper, wanna try a little trick I just thought of?” I asked.

“Uh sure, what are you thinking of?” he questioned.

“I’ll tell ya once we head out,” I replied before turning to Jamie, “Yo Boss, I’m heading out with Chomper for a little while.”

“Cool, just be back in ten minutes,” Jamie replied.

Once we reached a fair distance away from camp, I picked out an isolated tree and asked Chomper to fly me into the air and drop me onto the tree. Although he seems hesitant about the idea, I reassure him that I’ll be alright.

“Okay, I’m approaching the tree now, dropping you right… Now!” Chomper said as he released me from his grasp and I free fall a meter off from the tree and explode.

“That was a little bit too early, Chomper,” I shouted to him as he landed next to me.

“Do you want to try that again?” He offered, to which I agree.

After several more attempts, I can safely say that we are landing more accurate bombing raids against the tree.

“Wow, we decimated that tree,” Chomper stated in amazement, “Where did you come up with this idea?”

I then explained, “You know those metal birds humans control, those are called ‘planes’. There’s a type of plane called a ‘bomber’, they fly around dropping bombs on the enemy. What we just did is exactly what a bomber would do.”

“Wow! That’s genius! We tell Jamie about our new strategy?” Chomper excitedly suggested and that’s what we did.

Jamie’s POV:

I nodded intrigued and impressed at Sparky and Chomper’s creative battle tactics as I complimented, “That’s quite the innovative battle style, an excellent job, you two. Can I see the attack in action after lunch?”

“You bet,” Sparkbomb answered.

Suddenly I hear a giant “EEEK” come from the flowerbed where Sky and Blaze are resting and all five of us head towards the blue serpent and beige fox.

“Sky! Blaze! Are you girls alright!?” I shouted with worry in my voice.

“I’m good,” Blaze replied, “How about you, girl.”

“Um, I’m okay, just bumped my flower- MMPH!” Sky also replied before cutting herself off with her tail.

I share a look with Tanker with wide grins plastered on our faces holding back laughter until Chomper naively asked, “Wait, what do you mean by ‘bumped your flower-”  
“NOOOOOOOOO!!!!! DONT SAY IT OUT LOUD!!!!!” Sky screamed at the top of her lungs. “I- I meant t- to say that I b- bumped INTO a flower, not my...” she sputtered before giving up and turning her blush face away and whimpering, “...oh, this is so embarrassing…”

At that point, Tanker and I lost it, laughing hysterically. Our legs give way as our volume rises, rivaling Sky’s outburst seconds ago. “Bwahahahahaha, Holy shit Jamie! Are you hearing this?!?!?!” Tanker laughed as we fell and rolled on the floor.

“Sure did man, hope she watered the plants with her ‘moisture’ if you know what I mean…” I joked, which fueled more laughter from us. Blaze scowls at us while Vineguard rolls his eyes before the fox and pitcher plant pokemon walks away to the food laid out at camp. Sparky and Chomper follow suit after it explains what a ‘flower’ is. After about five minutes of nonstop laughter, we finally regain the strength to walk over to the shivering serpent. “Heya Sky, are you alright~?” I asked in a soothing tone while hiding a mischievous smile.

“A- are you guys done laughing…? I’m so embarrassed…” Sky whimpered.

I then proceeded to sit next to her, wrap my arms around her, and gently rest my head on her soft scales while continuing my soothing demeanor. “It was just a joke Sky..~ We mean no harm and we love you the way you are, like good friends~,” I said while also running my hand down Sky’s spine while nuzzling my face on her side affectionately for extra effect.

“You really mean it?” Sky questioned and looked up with uncertainty in her large obsidian eyes.

“Of course he means it,” Tanker joined in, “ I oughta said the same actually. We just wanna have a good laugh, and I also oughta thank ya for being a good sport, ya know…”

“Well... I guess if you put it that way…” Sky pondered for a moment until a smile formed on her face, “Then I suppose I can forgive you guys. So, let’s go eat now.”

“Hold up now,” I interjected, “As a good friend, I feel I must do something… important…”

Both pokemons look confused with Sky questioning, “Huh? What would that be?”

“As a good friend, we look out for each other. So since you ‘bumped into your flower’, I should check for any boo-boos ‘down there’, if you catch my drift~” I teased while pointing at Sky’s ‘parts’, which sends her over the edge. She releases a loud gasp before angrily grabbing my head, slamming my face into the ground, and barks, “How does the ground taste?! It even matches your ‘dirt’-y mind, you perverted prick!!!”

Five minutes later:

We all sit in a circle, I’m eating a ham sandwich, Sparky is sapping his batteries, and the rest got their poke-kibbles. It started with a couple of conversations when suddenly, it went eerily quiet. I look around to find the source of the silence, I see Blaze and Vineguard looking at Sky who’s shooting me a death glare for the little joke I played earlier and the rest looking at me awaiting my reaction. Another smirk grew on my face as I jested, “Did I put too much salt in the poke-kibbles, cause someone’s feeling extra salty~” The pokemon staring at me burst into laughter as Sky furiously pouted, “Oh shut up... You stupid prick!” Then, she takes an aggressive chomp at the remaining poke-kibbles and lunch continues for another 30 minutes. Yup, I definitely have a dirty mind and the reactions I get, like Sky’s, are priceless.

After lunch, we continue our training, with everyone finding a ledge and turning it into a shooting range for their strongest ranged attacks. Tanker especially brought intense firepower to the table with his relentless, suppressive hydro pump attack. Of course, I didn’t expect anything less from the same blastoise who my starting squirtle evolved into. Even to this day, I could remember all the details of me walking into Professor Oak’s lab and couldn’t help but choose the most energetic one of them all: that squirtle. The second I send him to battle against a wild ratatta, squirtle immediately tackled the wild pokemon without me issuing a command. After defeating the ratatta, he triumphantly poses like he just conquered the pokemon league. That point was when I knew that I made the best choice, both in which starter and in the decision to become a trainer. Every opponent we battled, he stepped up front, eager to battle with no regrets. Even after a handful of knockouts, he remains lax about his defeats, which combined with a confident, bold nature leads to believe Tanker is on the road to greatness.

“Jamie? Are you there?” Vineguard suddenly snapped me out of my memory lane, “You said you want to show me something?”

“Uh, yeah. I do,” I sputtered from shock and pull another TM I purchased in Goldenrod. “This TM contains ‘swords dance’ a move that will buff your physical attack, which is all of your offensive attacks currently.”

“I see. I’ll have a look at it then,” Vine nodded.

For the rest of the afternoon, Vineguard practiced the move ‘swords dance’ while the rest practiced their ranged attacks. When dinner rolls around, we all get the same meal as lunch, though I did promise to pick up some different food at Goldenrod for a varied diet. After dinner, everyone was free to do whatever they please, Tanker and Vineguard search for wild pokemon to battle, Chomper and Sparkbomb perfect their bombing run tactic, and the two girls went to bed early.

Then, the cycle of training in the morning and afternoon continues for two more days. During that time, I notice Sparkbomb launching his thunder attacks up into the air and come crashing down harder than normal, which he dubbs: his “thunder mortar” attack. Next, no matter how many times Sky level up, she still isn’t evolving into a dragonite. However, several great news occurs on Wednesday. First, I get a text message on my phone that my two orders are ready for pick up in the Goldenrod Department Store, next I receive a message from the two professors about Team Rocket’s updated position, and lastly, Sparkbomb claims he learned a new move and wants to show everyone.

Sparkbomb’s POV:

“Alrighty, whenever you’re ready!” I heard Jamie shout over to me.

I then nod to Tanker, telling him, “Let those cannons rip Tanker, I’m all set!”

Tanker fires a powerful hydro pump from his water cannons straight at me, but I wasn’t worried. Instead, I was concentrating my mind, using what little psychic power I have to materialize a mirrorlike shield before me. When Tanker’s attack lands, I could feel the pain of the attack pound into my mind, yet the attack didn’t leave a scratch. Instead, the water-type special attack bounced off the psychic shield at twice the power in a safe direction. When Tanker stopped his attack, I retract the mirror shield while panting like I just rolled a marathon. It was worth it though as the other pokemon and Jamie look impressed.

“Woah! What move is that?” Chomper asked in amazement.

“That’s mirror coat,” Vine indicated, “It’s an attack learned by electrodes that can reflect special attacks at two times the power back at the user. With this new move, Sparky has the option to reflect enemy attacks back at them or amplify our own attacks, except for dark type attacks.”

Considering how close noon is, I hear a couple of bellies rumbling with Tanker suggesting, “Hey, How ‘bout we celebrate with some pizza.”

“Anything is fine with me~ Since I probably can’t eat it,” I quipped.

“Such a shame~ You would’ve loved the taste of pizza. Everyone does,” Tanker replied.

“Good thing I spotted a pizza parlor in Goldenrod and there’s some business I got to d-” Jamie added before his radio goes off, which he answers. A shock appears on his face before he gets back to us. “Guys, we got some news,” Jamie said.

“We’re NOT guys!” Blaze huffed as she points to Sky.

Jamie sighs before adding, “...And girls…”

“Um, I’m genderless…” I also added for my amusement. 

This made Jamie heave the largest sigh I’ve ever seen before pouting, “Fine! Guys, girls, and everything in between… Happy now…!” I nod along with half of us giggle.

“Okay, Professor Elm just radioed me and he said that the police uncovered more intel regarding Team Rocket and I responded with also having some intel myself,” Jamie announced “So Sparkbomb, ready to spill the beans on Project Cerebellum?”

“Heck yeah!” I enthusiastically answered.

Jamie’s POV:

After our pizza party and picking up my “special order” from the Goldenrod Department Store, I head off on Chomper’s back to New Bark Town at around evening to greet the two professors. Since I consider my newly trained team members just as important as me, I let out the other five and all seven of us enter the lab single filed only to also see the chief officer Jenny and another officer.

“Ah, Hello there Jamie and…” Professor Elm greeted me before gazing at all my team out at once.

“Oh, don’t worry about them. I figure they need some fresh air and may want to listen to your new intel.”

The chief nodded before questioning, “So, Jamie. Do you remember the four Team Rocket members your team apprehended a few days ago?” I nodded a yes along with my team.

“Good,” she said and then announcing, “Our interrogators were able to extract information regarding a Rocket camp on Route 39 from the grunts. They revealed that the camp was a forward operations base to capture trainers’ pokemon along with exterminating any ‘talking pokemon’.” 

Sky and Chomper panic from the news, Vine and Sparky gulp slightly, but Tanker and Blaze step up with determination. “What disgusting filths!” Blaze scowled.

“We’ll teach em a lesson they won’t forget.” Tanker boasted.

“In that case, keep in mind that there’s a Rocket admin in the base. I want him brought to Olivine City’s pokemon center, where the arrest will take place.” Officer Jenny instructed while handing me a wanted poster of the admin in a black suit with turquoise hair.

Tanker raised his claw and asked, “What about the rest of the base, can we trash it?”

“Focus on the capture, nothing else will be necessary,” she specified.

Vanguard also asked, “Understood, we will begin the raid at 12:00 am. Can we get any reinforcements?”

“Unfortunately, my officers are on other camp raid missions. You only have yourselves to complete the mission,” the chief indicated.

Sparky now seized its opportunity by saying, “That will do just fine. Also, I have some info on Project Cerebellum from a vileplume on the Whirl Islands.”

After a long explanation on Project Cerebellum, the chief officer concludes her notepad, bids us farewell, and off we are to find this camp.

At 12:00 am:

Once we all review the plan, we begin to put our plan to capture Rocket Admin Proton into action. Blaze, who’s with me, begins the raid by using a weak, unnoticeable extrasensory to search the camp. The extremely faint rainbow-colored beam scan each section of the camp. “He’s surrounded by twenty grunts, there’s no way to sneak past them,” she reported.

I then signal Vine, Sparky, Chomper, and Sky over to the designated corner of the camp discussed earlier. At this point, Vine separates from the group, raises his attack with swords dances, and waits patiently with Chomper following while Sparky and Sky do their part. The duo takes turn glowing an ominous yellow and blue respectively. Three grunts let their curiosity get the best of them as they move in range. Vineguard then demonstrates that curiosity killed the skitty as he lashes out three vines, pulls them into the bushes and strangles the three. This process of ensnaring grunts continue until Blaze detects only ten grunts remain. Even better, seven grunts form a patrol group and leave the camp to investigate the blue and yellow lights, leaving Proton exposed.

I rush over to Vine, informing him of the situation, and then doing the same to the lights duo. Sparky and Sky turn off their lights and change locations while Vine sneaks into the camp for the capture. After at least ten minutes of searching, the patrol group heads back empty-handed while Vine comes back with the admin aggressively struggling in his vine bounds and gags. “Damn, that was fast Vine,” Tanker commented with a whisper as he exits the bushes he’s hiding in.

“I am an expert in stealth after all,” Vineguard whispered back, “Now, let’s get him onto Chomper’s back before those grunts find us.” On that note, I recall everyone except for Vine and Chomper and we’re off. Once Vine, Proton, and I reach Olivine City’s pokemon center, I see four police cars flashing a blinding red and blue and eight officers creating a box for Chomper to land in. Then, Vine yanks Proton off of Chomper and into the ground, where the eight officers pin down the still resisting Proton and arrest him. I decided to send out the rest of my team members to watch the arrest take place. As the officers take Proton away, he gives an angry glare, to which I only respond with a smug grin and wave him goodbye patronizingly. I turn around only to see every news channel roll up with cameras and microphones drawn, assaulting my team and me with questions. Sky vainly hides her fourteen feet long body behind me while Tanker and Blaze indulge themselves with the overwhelming attention they are getting, leaving the rest unsure of what to do. At first, I relate completely with Sky being extremely camera shy, especially with all these cameras pointing at my face. However, my opinion changes when I see a male reporter ask Tanker, “Can you explain to the audience how you and your trainer was able to capture Team Rocket’s admin despite your defeat at the Whirl Islands?”

“Tanker then triumphantly answered, “We have a strong iron will that Team Rocket will never scratch, no matter what they throw at us! Whatever Team Rocket takes from Johto, we will fight to take back. We are like wildfires, but the trees we destroy are gunts and the air we consume are intel, which fuels our fight to free Johto!”

“Excellent words,” I thought as the crowd erupts into a cheer. “You know Sky, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to enjoy the limelight…” I suggested.

“Mmmmmh, just answer all their questions so they can leave already, darn it!” Sky strongly muttered while I chuckle at her shyness.


	7. Ch.7 Vengeful Spirits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Alright, one more chapter left until this series is complete. Thank you to all that take to the time to read this story and waiting patiently for each chapter to come out. One more thing I wanted to try out is to incorporate music into my story so, try playing the music and read in between the symbol (*) at the same time to potentially enhance your experience.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own the music, NYX the Shield does and they are amazing :)
> 
> Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3Fi4q7Es2Q

Whew, yesterday was a total mess of cameras and microphones from every news network from Johto. After turning over Proton, one of Team Rocket’s admin, to the police. It was nonstop questions for me and my pokemon. Fortunately, my team and I finally got some sleep at Olivine City’s pokemon center’s rental rooms around 4:30 am, but that doesn’t stop more reporters from coming back after waking up at around noon, leaving us all completely exhausted to train, until now.

Friday at 9:30 am:

We all agreed to wake up and take off early to continue training. Currently, Tanker is at lv. 69, Sparkbomb reached lv. 58, Vineguard and Chomper tied at lv. 65, Blaze is at lv. 57, and Sky reached lv. 64. I’m confident in my pokemons’ abilities, but more training couldn’t hurt. What’s more, the police have yet to interrogate Proton, a surprisingly tough nut, for any new information. Anyways, Chomper and I arrive at Ice Path at around 10:00 am for our next training session. “Once again, that’s some great flying Chomper. I hope I didn’t cramp your wings in that tiny room we slept in.” I complimented.

“Aww, it was nothing…” Chomper bashfully replied, “And don’t worry, I’m fine. I’m impressed you manage to fit all six of us into that room.”

“I figured that it might be more comfortable for you guys to sleep out in the opening than inside those cramped balls,” I explained myself.

“You really are a special human to care about us that much.” Chomper also complemented, “Thank you.”

“Now THAT was nothing,” I boasted with a warm smile. Suddenly, one of my pokeballs burst open to reveal an eager blastoise.

“C’mon! What are we waitin’ for? I wanna start training already!” Tanker exclaimed, “Don’t you Chomp’?”

“Woah there, partner~ We’re getting to the ‘fun’ part…” I calmed Tanker down before releasing the other four pokemon. I then call two of them over, “Blaze and Vine, I got something special for you guys.”

Blaze then throws herself into my face enthusiastically and repeatedly asks me, “Oooh, tell me, tell me. What spectacular gift did you get for this beautiful fox before you~”

Vineguard then gently pulls Blaze off of my face, facepalm slightly, then retorted, “If you give him some space, he’ll tell you…”

“Hmph, whatever…” Blaze carefreely answered back, “So tell us already~”

I then reach into my backpack and pull out a black and green disk case before announcing, “These are technical records or TRs for short. You can learn new moves with these disks but they are highly unstable and will break after a single-use. The black disk is yours, Blaze, and the green one is yours, Vine.”

“That TR contains ‘nasty plot’,” I indicated, “That beautiful exterior is best suited to hide your sinister thoughts as it powers up your special attack!”

“Ehehehehehe… I won’t let you down…” Blaze snickered before I turn towards Vine, who’s staring wide-eyed at the disk in his grasp.

“Hey, Vine… are you alright…?” I awkwardly asked.

“...Is this happening for real…” Vine sputtered, out of character, “I thought it was extremely difficult, if not, impossible for a victreebel to learn ‘power whip’.”

“Um, yes. This is real. I’ve heard that you wanted to learn ‘power whip’ for a while despite already too old to learn an egg move and I thought this TR might help you fulfill your lifelong dream…”

Vineguard only stares in awe over my words before sputtering, “...I- I don’t know… how to express… my gratitude… Thanks, Jamie. I’m forever in your debt…” He then heads toward my laptop to boot up the TM/TR player with Blaze on his tail.

“Yo Tanker, Sparky, and Chomper. Feel free to train however you like. I’ve got a special training exercise for Sky.” I called over to the three who nod in approval, leaving Sky bewildered.

“Um Jamie, what exactly is my special training exercise?” she asked.

“You’ll see…” I replied as I led the dragonair towards the Ice Path cave. “Here we are~ We’re exploring this ice cave here.”

“Um, I don’t know about this…” she replied nervously, “Y- you know I’m not the biggest fan of caves… It’s dark and scary… and what if we get lost and never see daylight again!”

I quickly wrap my arms around Sky into a warm hug and calmly reassure her, “Don’t worry Sky, I know you’re a tough girl. We will be just fine with you around. Plus, we won’t go too far into the cave, just near the entrance."

I could see her face becoming calmer as every second passes until she speaks up, “Well, if you say so then.”

On that note, we were off into the Ice Path. The darkness inside put Sky on edge, but I happily light the way with my flashlight. The chilly environment results in us nuzzling each other for warmth. The sound of wild pokemons inside the cave also elicits a couple of yips and shudders but they were no match for Sky in battle. She freezes every zubat with ice beams, aqua tail every swinub, and fire blast the occasional delibird or jynx. All that battling gave her enough experience points to level up, allow her to try different battling strategies, and drastically raised her confidence in the cave. Sky’s no longer the timid dragon as her nature implies as she prances around carefree. We continue exploring the cave carefree for around an hour finding nothing but ice patches I slip on several times, much to the amusement of Sky, before I turn around and congratulate her, “Well done my girl. You just conquered another fear once again and reached lv.66 in the process.”

“Thank you, Jamie, I couldn’t have done it without you.” Sky said sweetly as I took her in for a hug and she reciprocated with a gentle coil. “I appreciate you giving me a new home after finding me in…”

“The Celadon Rocket Hideout?” I replied, “Oh don’t mention it. Just doing what I can to make your life as great as possible after your captivity.

“Yeah…” She nodded and we stayed in our embrace for a few more minutes before breaking off.

“Welp, I think we should get goi- AHHH!” I suggested before slipping on another piece of ice and falling flat on my back with an amused dragonair staring down at me.

“Pfft, ahahahahaha!” Sky laughed, “That was your seventh slip! Hahahahaha!”

“Oh, har har! Are you done laughing now?” I pouted while getting back up.

“S- sorry! But you only look sillier the more times you slip! Ehehehehehehe!” she continues laughing, even snorting a little.

I grumble a bit while quickly looking around the cave for what I need to hatch my little ‘payback’. Without warning, I turned off the flashlight and ominously warned, “Hey Sky, maybe you should lower the laughter or we’ll be caught…”

Sky then looked at me confused and asked, “Caught by who…”

“I just remembered that this cave is somewhat... haunted…” I recalled.

“H- haunted?!” She jumped.

“Yes, this place is indeed haunted…” I continued, “Before we were ever born, there was a man who followed a woman into this cave, and murdered her. Although witnesses see the man doing the killing, the police found no traces of the body, nor the killer. The police that did participate in the search also died in various ways. The men died by an untraceable sickness that drained their life energy while the girls died in a worse way…”

“H- how…?” Sky whimpered, fearing for her life.

“They slowly lose touch of reality and go insane as their souls are ripped out of their bodies and dragged into the spirit realm… leaving behind a husk for the ghost of the murdered woman to control… either people or pokemon are suitable hosts…” I ominously answered Sky.

“T- then let’s get o- out of here b- before she catc- EEEK!” she screamed as I suddenly collapse with shortness in my breath while pointing towards what appears to be a shadowy figure of a woman in a floor-length dress. “Come on! You can’t die now! Not like this! I need you!” Sky continued screaming for her life with tears in her eyes.

“We’re t- too late...” I wheezed, “C- can I at least get a good look of your face one last time…?”

“Please! Don’t go now! Please, stay strong!” she encouraged in vain.

“I- I’m sorry Sky… I can’t… T- there’s one last thing I wanna tell ya…” I whispered my dying breath.

“Anything! You can tell me anything!” she said, accepting her fate.

I weakly take my flashlight, point it towards the shadowy figure, and turn it on to reveal the figure being a stalagmite while revealing in a giant grin, “YOU JUST GOT PRAAANKED!!!”

Blaze’s POV:

I finally have the new move down. I ought to thank Jamie for this perfect move for me. Powering up my attacks by imagining bad things happening to my opponents will make future battles a lot more fun. I think I should reward myself with a nap, or I would have if I didn’t see a random fire blast attack out of nowhere. I then look over to the cave to see the source of the attack: a pissed-off dragonair pursuing a laughing asshat, namely Sky and Jamie respectively. Eventually, Sky reaches and wraps herself around Jamie while headbutting and screaming at him consecutively. The commotion also gets the attention of the others who head over to see what’s going on.

“Damn Sky! Didn’t know you wrestle like a pro!” Tanker shouted.

“NO! I’m NOT!” Sky snapped back, “I’m teaching this little prick here a lesson!”

“What happened exactly?” Chomper wondered.

“Well, this stupid prick here thought it would be funny to scare me to death with some stupid ghost story in that cave!” Sky barked with annoyance in her voice.

“Damn girl, I too wouldn’t want to be with that scum as well…” I commented.

“How can you be mad at me when you also laughed when I slipped on those ice patches…?” Jamie questioned while holding back his laughter.

“Grrrrr! That doesn’t warrant making me fear for my damn life and those I care about you sick prick!” Sky growled.

“Aww, you do care about me back in the cave~ You’re so sweet Sky~” Jamie wooed in response while embracing the still annoyed dragonair.

“...I still hate you…” Sky huffed aloof.

“Aww, I love you too~” Jamie teased in response.

Then, Vineguard approach the two and said, “If you two are done, I here to inform you that it’s almost 1:00 pm, so I think we should get lunch now.”

“Oh, right…” Jamie replied while climbing out of Sky’s loosened coils, “Let’s eat at Goldenrod City. I also have to grab more supplies for future missions to come.”

Chomper’s POV:

After we all decide to eat at a people and pokemon restaurant in Goldenrod, Jamie recalls everyone else, hops onto my back, and we take off. During the flight, I was curious and asked, “Hey Jamie, what exactly was the purpose of bringing Sky to the Ice Path cave?”

Jamie then nonchalantly answered, “Oh, it’s to help Sky conquer her fear of caves and the dark.”

“But how does scaring Sky with a spooky story supposed to help?” I questioned.

“Before I told that story, Sky already got used to the cave. Also, I kinda want to get back at her for laughing at me slipping on the ice.” he calmly stated before becoming awkward in the end.

“But… Is she okay with this…?” I ask again, unsure what to think.

“Well… I think a light teasing is okay as long as it doesn’t hurt or threaten anyone in the process…” Jamie answered, still with awkwardness in his voice.

“I see,” I nodded and continued flying until we landed at the restaurant. There Tanker and Sky get grilled remoraid, Blaze and Vineguard couldn’t find anything else tasty and settle on what Jamie calls: poke-kibbles, Jamie and I order steak, and Sparkbomb has its batteries to sap from.

Once we’re almost finished eating, I hear several people gossiping and looking in our general direction. One person in their early teens in human years enters the restaurant and breaks the murmur with a loud, “Well well Jamie! Never would have thought you would become famous!”

Vineguard’s POV:

“Oh great, not this kid again…” I scowled under my breath.

Jamie turns around to greet both Derek and Ruth. “How have you guys been,” Jamie asked.

“I just got my seventh gym badge and Ruth here is lagging, still not even having his sixth gym badge yet!” Derek boasted, “Anyways, I gotta get ready for my next gym battle, and what better way than defeating your dragonair!”

As my patience depletes, I step up and sternly warn him, “If you truly know what we’re famous for, you should know that your challenge will end badly for you.” 

“Oh don’t be such a party pooper!” Derek retorted, “Besides, I’m not leaving this spot until I receive a battle from the all-famous Jamie of course!”

As if on cue, the entire restaurant starts chanting “battle!” repeatedly, and I feel the pressure build-up on Jamie and Sky. “Hey Sky, no pressure on you or anything, but are you willing to battle Derek?” I whispered to Sky.

“Um, sure… only if Jamie wants to as well…” she nervously answered. Sky then turns toward Jamie and although the chanting drowned out their conversation, I could see two nods of approval from both of them. Jamie then walks up to Derek and accepted his challenge. We head out to a nearby park with a pokemon battlefield and each trainer takes their place while everyone from the restaurant surrounds the upcoming pokemon battle.

Jamie’s POV:

“Alright, Sky, remember the plan we discussed?” I asked.

“Um yeah,” she responded, still nervous.

“Alrighty! Derek exclaimed as he throws down a pokeball to reveal his typhlosion. “Use flamethrower!”

“Counter with fire blast!” I commanded. The two fire-type attacks collide with equal energy. However, while the typhlosion was busy repelling the fire blast, Sky takes the opportunity to close distance with the opponent. “Let’s freeze the enemy in place!” I called out to Sky which she nodded before freezing the typhlosion's feet into the ground with an ice beam, however, the attack didn’t do any significant damage.

“Typhlosion, melt the ice with flamethrower!” Derek commanded, leaving Sky an opening to attack. 

“Now’s the time! Combine dragon rush and aqua tail, Sky!” I shouted with enthusiasm as Sky envelops herself in draconic energy with a glowing ocean blue tail. Then, she charges into the typhlosion and slamming her tail into it at full force, leaving it with a sliver of health left and down on its back. As Derek desperately calls typhlosion to get up, Sky lands the final blow with a fire blast and gains one level once more. The crowd goes wild with loud cheering as I run up to embrace Sky with my arms while she does the same with her coils along with rubbing our faces next to each other. “Great battling out there Sky, you’ve grown so much since we first met,” I whispered in triumph.

“I couldn’t have done it without you, Jamie,” Sky whispered back with similar energy radiating from her words

As we continue enjoying the tender warmth of each other and the crowd cheering our names, I see what looks like two middle-aged men in formal attire pushing the crowd out of the way with two more men of similar age escorting a woman wearing a light pink skin-tight dress with rose gold glitter with a white fur coat with gold glitter on the ends of the sleeves. The most important clothing of all is that unfriendly face she’s wearing that indicates trouble. The crowd stops cheering as the woman glares at Sky and me still in our hug when she shrieked, “YOU! YOU’RE THE ONE DRAWING ALL THE ATTENTION AWAY FROM ME!”

“Um, who are you?” I bluntly asked.

Blaze’s POV:

“Hehehe! Of course, an uncultured mamoswine like yourself wouldn’t know~” I teased, “She’s Melissa, a top-tier pokemon coordinator, and my hero. If she’s in town, she must be performing in a contest.”

“That’s right! I can’t perform when I’m sidelined in favor of a nobody like yourself and your ugly dragonair!” Melissa scowled, “This is what a REAL dragonair looks like!” She throws down a pokeball that opens to reveal a shiny dragonair, extremely popular for their pink coloring adding to their cuteness. Their rarity means that many coordinators often pay an arm and a leg, even all four in some cases, just to have one of those majestic pokemon.

“This is Candy, my girl here is a true example of draconic beauty unlike your hideous excuse of a dragonair.” Melissa glowered. “In fact, why don’t you get you and your worthless pokemon out of this city. It’s not big enough for a legendary beauty icon such as myself and an insignificant waste of space like YOU!”

“J- Jamie…” Sky whimpered on the verge of bawling, “I- I’m n- not…”

I was in total disbelief, watching my childhood hero dissing my best friend before me. My friends will always come before anything else. “Girl, I got you,” I whispered under my breath. “YOU! With the nasty attitude!” I yelled, “You’re more disgusting than a muk! It’s a shame I can’t catch you in a ball and trap you in a PC forever!”

“Damn Blaze, you got her good,” Sparky commented.

“The pleasure is mine,” I replied with a snide smirk, “Hearing the combination of gasps and laughs is music to my ears.”

“You, ninetales!” my former childhood hero yelled, “Have you forgotten who you are speaking to!”

“Nope,” I nonchalantly responded, “Just saw a new side of you, a total bitch of a hag if you ask me~” If I didn’t laugh from my savage roast, Melissa’s new ticked off face and more laughter from the crowd certainly had me snickering. “If you have a problem with what I’m saying, why don’t you do something about it~ like battling us~” I teased her further, “...unless of course, you’re too afraid to get your hands dirty~”

Jamie’s POV:

“ALRIGHT THEN!!! LET’S HAVE A BATTLE BETWEEN OUR DRAGONAIRS THEN!!!!!” Melissa snapped, “If I win, you have to leave town. No, the WHOLE REGION!”

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” Vineguard interjected, “We are collaborating with law enforcement officers to track down Team Rocket.

“I have my ways to make my desires come true…” Melissa warned, which put Sky and me on edge.

“...And what do I get when I win…” I asked with a dry expression.

“...I guess I’ll tolerate your disgusting presence...” Melissa said aloof, “Just don’t get in my way…”

Five minutes later in Sky’s POV:

I’m so nervous right now. I can’t even look at the shiny dragonair in front of me without being more afraid. I look back to Jamie who’s giving me a thumbs up and my other friends cheering me on. I’ve got to do this… for them… for Jamie… even for myself.

“Candy! Use flamethrower on that worthless dragonair!” Melissa commanded.

“Counter with fire blast!” Jamie shouted, which I did. Unlike the typhlosion, my attack smothered the shiny dragonair’s attack and dealt some damage.

“Grr! Use thunderbolt instead!” Melissa called out next. I wasn’t severely hurt from the attack, but I’m severely slowed down from the paralysis. “Now! Flamethrower! Full power Candy!” Melissa ordered. The attack was a direct hit, but the attack was surprisingly weaker than I thought. 

“Sky, are you alright there?” Jamie asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. The attack didn’t do much,” I answer back, “Perhaps that dragonair is a much lower level than me.”

“CAAANDYYY!!! DESTROY THAT DRAGONAIR RIGHT THIS INSTANT!!!” Melissa screamed in anger at her dragonair, which she frantically nodded and attacked with thunderbolt once more. I winced in pain as the pain is amplified more from my current paralysis and didn’t see the dragonair slamming her tail straight at my head. My upper body falls onto the floor and I only see the sinister glare of the shiny dragonair looking down as I look up.

“My my, you really thought you would win just because you are higher leveled than me~” the shiny dragonair spoke in her native tongue. “Look at how pathetic you are now, completely helpless~”

“W- what are going to do to me?” I asked terrified, but she just laughed.

“That’s cute~ How can you know what’s going on when you don’t even know where you belong in: the trash~” the shiny dragonair taunted, “Yes! You do belong in the trash. Just look at your trainer now~ He’s just watching the scene playout, almost as if he’s given up on you already~”

“B- but he- he’ll... never… AHHH!” I sputtered before screaming in agony as another thunderbolt came my way.

“Oh really, what will your precious trainer do about that, hmm?” she continues her torment, “That’s right, nothing. Looks like he’s given up on such a useless creature before me~ Or maybe he’s just as helpless as you~”

“J- Jamie…” I whimpered, feeling tears leaking from my eyes.

“Vine! What’s going on with the two?” Jamie desperately asked.

“This isn’t even a goddamn battle anymore! Candy the dragonair is just tormenting Sky!” Vine disapprovingly declares out loud, which incites some booing from the crowd. 

“Ahahahaha! Did your trainer train you to become a crybaby also~” Candy taunted even more,” Go on crybaby~ cry your eyes out~ It only shows how worthless you really are~”

My mental state is at its weakest now after all the torment from Candy. I’m doing everything I can to fight back my tears, but… I… can’t… any… longer… I started sobbing loudly. Nothing else is on my mind except cry out to everyone around me. My mind was broken... I don’t even care anymore, I just want the suffering to end… 

“No! Sky! Ugh…” I heard Jamie exclaim, “Melissa, stop your dragonair from tormenting mine NOW! I’ll surrender if you do.”

Wait, did he just say “surrender”? No! He does care about me enough to give up a battle for my well-being… But what about me looking out for him… I can’t just let him give up his pride like that… I’m sure that I’m at the right level to do this. I begin to concentrate on every negative trauma that’s weighing me down: captured by Team Rocket, the dark cages I’m forced to live in, my fears of the outside world, my anxieties, the Whirl Islands defeat, Candy tormenting me, and me being the expense of Jamie’s pride. I focus these things on rebuilding my broken mind and fueling my newest attack: ‘outrage’.

(*)As I pop open my eyes, I feel an overwhelming set of draconic energy enveloping all over my body and vigorously flow through my scales and vessels, forming a burning, red, hot aura around my body and eyes fueled by my rage. I then call out, “JAMIE!!! THE FIGHT’S NOT OVER YET!!! I’LL FINISH WHAT WE STARTED!!!” Everyone suddenly stares in awe at both the terror and marvel they gaze upon, especially Jamie.

“Sky! You’re alright! And you learned ‘outrage’, this is incredible!” Jamie said.

After saying what needs to be spoken, I turn to my tormentor who’s now cowering in fear while my rage builds up all over my body, ready to strike her down.

“H- hey… Sky’s your name right… um, why don’t we just… talk about this...” Candy tried negotiating, but I was having none of it. I first blast her with an ice beam to freeze her in place before bringing my face right into her face.

I glared coldly into her eyes begging for mercy and declared, “You’ve talked enough... You monster! You’ve had your chance to talk about how ‘pathetic’, ‘worthless’, ‘useless’, and ‘trash’ I am... Frankly, I don’t give a shit what you think about me now... You can say whatever the fuck you want and I’ll shove it back in your ass... However… Should any poor soul dare talk anything bad about my trainer, I will make them experience unimaginable pain! Now, after the horror you inflicted on me, it’s time that You. Will! FEEL! MY!! WRAITH!!!”

I throw everything I have at the pink sinister serpent before me. I unleash powerful headbutts, brutal tail swings, and crushing coils along with hurling and slamming her helpless body around like a chew toy. All of the attacks above are powered by my hatred. I’ve manifested all my struggles and sorrows throughout my life into a blind, powerful rampage of fury. After a minute of a nonstop rampage, I feel my draconic energy slowly running out, so I throw the shiny dragonair into the ground while I recharge my energy.

“O- okay Sky, you made your point. Now can you please stop… I’m begging you! I promise I’ll leave you alone from now on… Just stop please...” Candy pleads with tears flowing from her eyes, but my rage only increased faster from her hypocrisy.

“You never stopped when I asked you to stop now did you?!” I scream back, “I will not stop until every part of you is in PAIN!” I then prepared for my second rampage, where I poured every ounce of my energy into hurting this dragonair who hurt me and my trainer. Every time I land an attack, I hear Candy cry in agony, but I couldn’t care less. All that pain she made me feel… how she broke me… I too want to break every single part of her, I will dish that pain right back at her twice as hard. I even incorporated my other attacks into the mix to deal as much damage as I could. After another brutal minute, I throw Candy down into the ground, not caring if she still has a pulse, and glare at her trainer who caused this mess. “Step any closer and you can join your precious dragonair in hell!” I threatened the person who’s the source of my pain and rage. Melissa quickly recalls Candy into her pokeball and runs off in fear with her four bodyguards.(*)

After a few seconds, my draconic aura disappears, signaling my outrage attack has ended. However, now that my rational thinking is back, I somehow don’t feel any better. In fact, I feel worse, like I’m the brute instead of Candy despite what she did. As my friends approach me, I droop my head towards the ground as I start regretting my actions. Sure, words can hurt, but broken body parts are harder to heal than feelings. Tears build up again as I truly realize the gravity of my actions. “Hey guys, I got a confession to make…” I said 

“Uh sure, whatever floats your boat,” Sparkbomb replied.

“I called that dragonair a monster... Even though I’m no different!” I confessed with tears flowing out once again, “Imagine trying to compete in a contest with a broken body. I basically ruined a trainer and pokemon’s career. I too am a sick monster...” I continue crying over my guilt while the rest comfort me.

Jamie’s POV:

I’m genuinely impressed that Sky is compassionate to even those who wrong her. I don’t fully understand her way of thinking, but I do respect that ability. As I continue my train of thought, my radio goes off and I hear the chief officer informing me that Team Rocket members have stolen someone’s shiny pokemon and gives me the location for their rendezvous point in Olivine City’s docks at 3:00 am. The task will be to recover the stolen pokemon and return it to its owner in Goldenrod City’s pokemon center. I then informed, “Heya team, we got ourselves another mission and this one could redeem yourself Sky.”

3:00 am in Sky’s POV:

I’m not even surprised that Team Rocket would want to capture Candy. After all, we dragonairs are valuable, and shiny is even more valuable. Regardless of what happened earlier, I will do whatever it takes to rescue her. This time, Jamie decides to switch up our movesets with me using ‘thunderbolt’ and Tanker using ‘ice beam’ to better cover up our weaknesses. What’s more, Jamie bought us some walkie-talkies to better communicate for the mission.

Anyways, the plan is simple: once Candy’s cage is out in the open, Chomper grabs the cage and it’s up to the rest of us to cover Chomper. Currently, I’m on the top of the Glitter Lighthouse getting a great view of the docks and the current grunts I’ll zap later. After half an hour of waiting, a truck rolls up the grunts are unloading its contents, which reveals a terrified shiny dragonair locked up. Once the cage is out in the opening, I radioed, “Okay Chomper, the cage is out in the opening.” 

“Got it, moving in,” Chomper replied while swooping in to grab the cage and that’s where all the fighting begins. 

Everyone begins unleashing their attacks and Blaze radios everyone of new enemies she found with her extrasensory attack. While unleashing thunderbolts, I spotted a grunt in purple hair and reported, “Hey guys, don’t know if this is important, but I see a grunt in purple hair.”

“Purple hair, that’s one of the admins!” Vine exclaimed, “Cover me while I capture him.”

“Got it,” I noted, “Also Chomper when you drop off the cage, come back to deliver the captured admin to Goldenrod City as well.” Eventually, all the grunts are defeated and Chomper returns just in time to bring the admin and us to the pokemon center, where we will wait for a handler to bring Candy back to her trainer and the police to arrest Team Rocket Admin Petrel. 

“I can safely say that we are getting better with these missions,” I commented to Blaze who’s sharing a comfy couch with me in the pokemon center while the rest are lounging elsewhere. What intrigues me is the conversation Candy and Jamie are having and his last line: “I think it’s more appropriate if you apologize to Sky than me.” She nods and then slithers up to the couch.

“Um, hi girls…” Candy said awkwardly.

“What’s up girl, care to join the girls’ party?” Blaze invited.

“I would if you aren’t mad at me for… You know… the incident afternoon…” Candy recalled.

“Let’s be honest, if I wasn’t besties with Sky, I doubt I ever will forgive pokemon like you,” Blaze stated.

“Oh, about you, Sky… sorry for what I said about you earlier…” Candy said remorsefully, “Although my body aches everywhere, I guess I kinda deserve it…”

“Oh, It’s okay,” I nonchalantly responded, “No one deserves to be hurt in any way.”

“But... what about the horrible things I said about you…” Candy questioned with concern, “Don’t you hate me in any way?”

“Oh, I just prefer teaching kindness by showing others how it feels to be treated with kindness instead of punishing them through cruelty.” I thoughtfully answered, “In other words, I’ll rather show others the wonders of my open heart over giving others a nasty taste of my vengeful spirits.”


	8. Ch.8 Checkmate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: This is it guys, the final chapter. It was a pleasure to put together a story that I bottled up in my mind for a long time and share it with the world. I don't know how to thank those who come back here eagerly waiting for another chapter to come out. What I do know is that I will need a break and in the meantime, feel free to post a review to help me become a better writer and feel free to suggest where should the gang travel to next. Please enjoy the final chapter and this is Jamie1543 signing off for now.

After yesterday and last night’s events, I was exhausted and wanted to sleep in till noon. Unfortunately, a couple of vines firmly nudge me awake. At first, I jump in shock at the unfamiliar massive vines only to remember that Vineguard replaced his vine whip attack with power whip. “Jamie, get up. There’s a problem at the front desk,” Vineguard urgently announced.

“Does it require me?” I muttered half asleep.

“Yes. It. Does!” Vine sternly replied, which I recoil slightly.

“Alright then. I’m heading out,” I relented and headed out with Vine to stare in shock at the scene. A mid-aged man in a shirt and overalls, who I assume is the handler, is attempting to reach a terrified Candy only for Sky to fiercely hiss back. Everyone else is staring in awe and hesitant on intervening.

“Hey Jamie, we need your help!” Chomper called me over.

“Yeah, you think you could cool our girl and talk some sense into her?” Tanker asked.

“Wouldn’t want the situation to ‘drag-on’ even longer~ Eh, Boss?” Sparky joked.

“Alright, I’ll see what’s up,” I said before turning my attention to Sky, refusing to budge, “Sky, what’s going on here. I trust that you have a good reason to disobey mission orders.”

“Jamie, we can’t send her back. Her trainer abused her,” Sky reported with worry and defiance in her voice. “I know that you, out of everyone here, can at least try to understand what I’m saying.”

“Sky! Candy’s situation is beyond our control!” Vine firmly countered, “There WILL be consequences for disobeying mission objectives!”

As Vine and Sky continue going back and forth, I step in between them and thrust out my palms in a “stop” motion, and suggest, “Guys, let me hear Candy’s own words before I draw any conclusion.”

Candy’s POV:

“Fine… Candy, can you please repeat what you said your trainer did to you?” Sky said. 

I was completely in shock to see Sky’s trainer concerned about me. Why was he worried about me? Why did he want to hear me out? Why bother even though he barely knows me. I shed a couple of tears both in happiness to finally see a human care about me and in sadness where I’m voicing the horrors I’ve experienced.

I explained, “My trainer never loved or showed any kind of affection towards me. She never tends to my needs and has handlers do the work instead. She only sees me as a tool to achieve fame, to the point where she only praises me while bragging on camera after every first-place win. When we don’t get first place in a contest, she would scold, whip, and deny me food for the day. She even threatens to sell me off if I ‘don’t get my act together’, and shows no mercy while doing all of these cruel things. After seeing how much better you treat your pokemon, I don't ever want to go back to my old trainer.” Sky was kind enough to translate pokemon speech into human speech for Jamie to understand.

Jamie’s POV:

“Vine, can you confirm Sky’s translation?” I asked.

“Sky’s translation is on point, however, we must obey our orders regardless of the circumstances.” Vine said, “By taking on these missions assigned to us by the police chief, we obligated that we will complete these missions successfully without question.”

“What about you Jamie?” Sky urged, “Surely, you must feel something after what she went through.”

“Look, just give me a moment to radio the police chief about the situation,” I replied, exhausted. I pulled out my radio and said, “Chief, this is Jamie. We got a situation here.”

“I copy. What's the situation?” she replied.

“The shiny pokemon has been secured and is ready to return, but we’ve got a confession from the shiny pokemon that her trainer was neglectful.” I reported, “I recommend launching an investigation on her trainer to confirm her claims.”

“When did the first learn about the shiny pokemon’s confession?” the chief asked. I posed the question to Sky and she said around 4:00 am, just after everyone else and I headed off to bed. I then reported the time to the chief and she responded, “Okay, I’ve sent some officers to initiate the investigation. However, make sure you immediately report any significant details to me during your missions without delay so I may make any mission alterations as soon as possible.”

“Understood,” I said, at attention. I then inform the rest of my team and the pokemon handler, who’s on his phone with his boss, about my conversation with the chief at hand. Although frustrated, he relents and we all wait until some officers arrive along with a familiar face.

“Lance? What brings you here?” I asked in surprise.

“I was with chief Officer Jenny when you reported the news. I volunteered to oversee the officers’ arrival and check the condition of the shiny dragonair.” Lance replied, “I simply can’t ignore a pokemon neglected by its trainer, or at worst: abused.”

“Amen to that,” I said, nearly speechless to Lance’s willingness to help a pokemon in need.

“I also wish to thank you for discovering this possible case of pokemon abuse as well,” Lance added as he headed toward the shiny dragonair with me following shortly behind.

“Well, I actually have to hand the credit over to Sky. She’s the one watching over Candy, the shiny dragonair’s nickname, and discovering the news I reported.” I said. At the call of her name, Sky perks up and quickly slither over to my side.

“Even then, acknowledging your pokemon’s efforts shows your great care for pokemon.” Lance said while examining Candy before turning his attention to Sky for a bit, “Although I was wondering… What’s with the everstone necklace?”

“Wait, it’s made out of everstone?!” Sky and I shouted in surprise.

“You both didn’t know?” Lance answered back dumbfounded, “That explains why your dragonair didn’t evolve yet.”

I mentally facepalmed before turning to Sky. “Oops, my bad Sky… I guess we just need to level you up once more without the necklace…” I said, embarrassed from my blunder. However, I will certainly miss Sky’s current form.

“Oh, it’s okay.” Sky reassured, “I actually prefer my dragonair form over my dragonite final. It’s more slender and agile. But I’m not sure how to tell you this though...”

“Oh, no worries at all! I would never force you to do anything you don’t want to do,” I also reassured her.

“Interesting, it’s not uncommon for wild dragonairs to prefer their current form instead of evolving,” Lance commented in fascination, “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to keep her like this.”

“That’s great!” Sky exclaimed in delight, “After all, I wouldn’t want to evolve only to look more like Jamie if you know what I mean~”

Lance and I look at each other confused. I then asked, “What do you mea- …!” I shudder as I quickly realize what Sky meant when she pokes my somewhat plump belly while grinning ear to ear, that is if snakes even have ears of course. What didn’t help was a couple of giggles from my pokemon eavesdropping.

Blaze first interjected with giggles, “That’s so true Sky! I’m dying right now!”

“Oh be quiet Blaze!” I pouted, “And as for you, Sky... I’m not that fat you goddamn snake! That was just uncalled for!”

“Uncalled for?~ What about the ‘flowerbed incident’, hmm?~” Sky slyly responded, maintaining and pressing her smug grin closer to my flustered face. “Wanna discuss it in front of THE dragon master?~” 

“On second thought… Let’s keep that moment between ourselves…” I said begrudgingly.

“Hmph! That’s what I thought,” Sky said triumphantly.

“Wow, so you two must have a long history together,” Lance commented astonished, “In fact, it’s common for pokemon to mimic the behaviors of their trainers.”

“I suppose that explains Candy’s initial hostility and Sky slowly becoming more cheeky,” I thought to myself.

“Oh! I just remembered!” Lance exclaimed in shock, “I need you to head to Blackthorn City as soon as possible. The city is in danger!”

I motion everyone to come over to listen. Vineguard then stepped up, asking, “What’s the situation at hand?”

“Just get to the city as fast as you can!” Lance urged as he pulled out a folded piece of paper, “This paper should explain everything. I’ll meet you guys there once the shiny dragonair has been dealt with.”

I take the paper and stuff it into my backpack before turning to Chomper. “Alrighty Chomper, let’s see how fast those wings of yours are.”

“I’ve been one of the fastest back in my day… I’ll show you I still kept my top speed till this day,” Chomper said, determined.

On that note, we waved our goodbyes, I recall everyone other than Chomper into their pokeballs, and Chomper and I take off en route to Blackthorn City. After at least ten minutes Chomper is high in the sky, zipping at high speeds. I could feel the air pushing back at me hard, but I relentlessly hold on to Chomper as he pushes himself to fly just a little bit faster. “You know Jamie…” Chomper said out of nowhere.

“Um yeah,” I said loudly, fighting against the air blowing past me.

“I’ve learned a lot from you during our adventure.” Chomper announced, “When we failed to defeat Lance, you didn’t give up on your pokemon journey, but accepted a new journey. Even if we failed during our journey, you still didn’t give up on us and continue bringing the best out of us in hope of more success. You even treat us like equals better than other trainers I see by eating with us and sleeping together.”

“Well, what can I say? I consider you all as friends and should treat you guys like friends,” I replied, still fighting the air blowing against me.

“At first I wasn’t sure why, but after what Lance said about you caring for pokemon, I think I get it now…” Chomper said before taking a deep breath, “Thank you, Jamie, for being a kind and caring trainer who sees good in us and continuously brings that good out for the world to see.”

“I’ll always be there for you guys,” I replied sincerely, “Your efforts have helped out many people and pokemon and I wish for you guys to keep up the amazing work.”

“We will. For you of course,” Chomper concluded.

At 2:00 pm:

After some more time, we see a settlement engraved in the mountains with police cars everywhere and hundreds of officers in the area. We then descend on the city to investigate. I inform them that I was sent here by Lance, which the officers grant me entry and then I ask them what's going on now. The officers claim that all civilians are being evacuated for the upcoming attack. At first, I was confused, then Chomper suggested that I now look at the paper Lance gave me. I head to the nearest tree to sit down on and call out the rest of my pokemon to read the paper to them. Once I unfolded the paper, I couldn’t help but to freeze in terror and mutter, “Aw hell… We’re in deep shit now…”

“Well, Boss? What’s up?” Sparkbomb asked anxiously.

“This paper shows the rocket admins’ responses during the interrogation process,” I answered. “Admin Petrel, being the most talkative of the two captured admins, spilled the beans on the operations of Team Rocket. It all leads up to a major attack on Blackthorn City.”

“Well, what’s Team Rocket sendin’ after us this time,” Tanker questioned, “Surely they’ve got nothin’ on us right...?”

“Originally, they planned to assemble around 300 grunts to raid the city, but due to our interference, they are making a last-ditch effort to raid the city their reserve grunts, which is 150,” I answered, relieved of their crippled numbers, yet cautious of their probable capabilities. 

“Doesn’t sound so bad~ I bet we’ll cream them, as usual, ~,” Blaze boasted.

“I doubt it. They plan on bringing their tyranitar, enhanced with their experimental radio waves, with them.” I interjected, “If we’re not careful, that tyranitar alone could steamroll through all of us.”

“Anything else to note?” Vineguard asked next.

“Team Rocket is also bringing several key targets. Firstly, the radio wave generator was perfected and will be used to brainwash all the dragon pokemon in Dragon’s Den to essentially create an army to wipe out all opposition and control all of Johto.”

“That’s terrible!!!” Sky yelled uncontrollably, “Think of all the dratinis that will be enslaved against their will!!!”

“I know… That’s why we’re here to stop them with everything we got” I said, trying to calm Sky down before continuing, “Also, the last two Team Rocket admins are overseeing the attack. This is our chance to nab them and fully dismantle Team Rocket.”

“I have an idea. Why don’t Sparky and I bomb the radio wave generator while you guys defend the city.” Chomper suggested.

“That would work, except for a small problem.” I pointed out, “According to Admin Petrel’s description, the radio wave generator is a tripod-mounted device with a radio dish at the end emitting the radio waves. It also has wires that draw psychic powers from three pokemon: alakazam, hypno, and a mr. mime. The alakazam will share its IQ with the targeted pokemon, the hypno will hypnotize the target pokemon with its hypnotic powers, and the mr. mime will provide extra psychic power along with projecting a barrier to protect the radio wave generator. If we can’t bust through that barrier, there’s no hope…”

“No worries Boss, I’ll just hammer the shield away with my ‘thunder mortar’ technique I practiced during our training.” Sparky suggested as well, “They won’t see the attack coming until it’s too late.”

“I can also help by fire blasting the barrier from a distance,” Sky added.

“That sounds great and all, but how will we distract the tyranitar, our biggest threat, while you guys keep pounding at the barrier for who knows how long,” I questioned.

“I’ll take care of slowing down the tyranitar.” Vine volunteered, “My vines should be large enough to effectively grasp larger pokemon like tyranitars.”

“Oh, let me join!” Blaze declared, “I can’t wait to see the face of that nasty tyranitar when I cripple its attacking power with a will-o-wisp.”

“Sounds like a plan Blaze, just don't let that tyranitar land a rock type attack on you, and defeating the tyranitar would be easier as it takes burn damage over time,” I replied.

“Don’t you worry one bit about those lowly grunts and their pokemon, I’ll gladly gun them all down!” Tanker boasted.

“I’m sure you will Tanker,” I said before recommending, “However, since we’re fighting a defensive battle, I recommend we use the rocks around us to create fortified defensive fighting positions to attack from cover.” The rest of the time we finalize the plan to destroy the radio wave emitter along with taking down the tyranitar until we hear the flapping sound of a dragonite’s wings and Lance hopping off of said dragonite.

“Thank Arceus you made it to the city,” Lance sigh in relief, “This means a lot for you all to help defend my hometown from the clutches of Team Rocket. So, you all have a plan?”

“Oh, we sure do!” Tanker said enthusiastically, “Tell ‘em Vine!”

After Vineguard explained the plan to Lance, he’s amazed to see our teamwork and radios all officers to keep their pokemon in a defensive formation around the city along with ordering more wall constructions using the surrounding rocks. It’s our turn to start preparing.

Once I gave everyone on my team their walkie-talkie, we all split off to our position. On the southern end of the bridge leading to Blackthorn City, we built a machine gun nest for Tanker to duck behind cover or get up and blast the enemy with high volumes of water. Sky and Sparkbomb are on a rock ledge overlooking the bridge and Route 45, the predicted path the tyranitar will take along with its escorting grunts. Speaking of Route 45, there’s a cave entrance where Blaze and Vineguard are hiding, ready to attack any upcoming enemies. Finally, Chomper and I are up in the air scanning the skies for any aerial threats.

It’s been around 30 minutes and I’ve yet to see any enemy activity. Both Chomper and I are getting anxious whether we are waiting for an ambush from the enemy or not. Suddenly, my radio goes off, which Lance informs me that some scouts have spotted Team Rocket advancing towards the city on Route 45. Gulping for a bit, I radioed all of my pokemon, “Heads up! They’re coming! Let’s give these bastards everything we got!”

Tanker’s POV:

“Alright! The enemy is here! Time for ‘em to get a taste of my water cannons!” I exclaim out loud as I feel the pressure build up inside my massive guns while I point them in their direction, ready to unleash devastating hydro pumps. I see my fellow friends beginning their attacks with Sparky firing his ‘thunder mortar” attack and Blaze using extrasensory attacks to weed out the golbats and koffings. I, on the other hand, am more excited about the firepower I’m about to unleash. “Take some of THIS!!!” I yelled as my cannons rocket away with a torrent of water drenching anything in my line of sights: radicates, arboks, sandslashes, and houndooms to name a few. “GET SOME SUCKERS!!! YEEEAAAHHH!!!” I continue shouting as I can’t hold back the excitement I’m having now, blasting gallons after gallons of water at the enemy, hopelessly resisting my attack at max power. With my superior firepower, no pokemon could ever reach a single yard of the city’s bridge. Unfortunately, that tyranitar’s packing heat forced me behind cover. I then radio Vineguard to see if he’s got a trick up his sleeves.

Blaze’s POV:

“Blaze, how’s the area?” Vine shouts over to me as he powers up with swords dances.

“Bunch of nasty poison types here.” I answered while attacking with extrasensory, “There’s sending in koffings, golbats, even muks… EWW!!!”

“Just keep up the extrasensory attacks!” Vine shouts back, “I’ve got you covered!” Suddenly, a houndoom rushes towards me, but Vineguard quickly grabs it with his power whip and stabs it in the throat with a poison jab.

“Good save Vine!” I complimented.

“You’re good. Keep up the attack.” Vine replied.

On that note, I continue wiping out all the poison-type pokemon in my area. I could see Sky sniping enemy pokemon with thunderbolts and Chomper gunning down more pokemon from the air with the tyranitar counter attacki- “OH MY! I forgot! The tyranitar is our primary target!” I mentally screamed. With that in mind, I focus more power on my extrasensory attack along with using ‘nasty plot’ to increase my special attack by imagining all the way I’ll cripple that ugly monstrosity. “Vine! The tyranitar is in range! Grab him!!!” I screamed in urgency and slight fear.

“Got it!” He nodded before wrapping all two vines on the left leg and left arm each and dragging the armor pokemon down into the ground. 

“Wha… What’s going on!!!” the tyranitar says as I rush in front and prepare a will-o-wisp.

“Alright uglyface! You’ve messed with us long enough! It’s time you get a taste of this!” I snidely shouted as I launched a wave of ghostly fireballs at the downed tyranitar, which burned him and his physical attack appeared to be weakened.

Sparkbomb’s POV:

“Damn, never would have thought that Blaze and Vineguard could make a great tag team,” I commented to myself, but was interrupted when Jamie radioed us that the Team Rocket is setting up the radio wave emitter as we speak and we’re in the open to attack.

“Ready to attack,” Chomper said.

“So am I,” Sky also said.

“Roger that Boss, They’re gonna have a ‘shocking’ experience soon,” I responded as I get in position behind a rock and launch wave after wave of thunder attacks up into the air and crashing back down around the radio wave emitter along with Chomper bombarding the barrier like a gunship and Sky unleashing fire blasts from a distance like a missile turret also into the barrier. The thunder attacks were short-lived as I dodge future sight attacks crashing down on me from portals above. Unfortunately, I can’t reflect the attack with a mirror coat, but… I’ve got an idea. I leave my position and fire traditional thunder attacks at the barrier out in the open. The alakazam did just as I expected: using the move “psychic” at full power, only for me to activate my mirror coat and reflect the attack back at the alakazam at twice the power.

Chomper’s POV:

“He did it! The damage Sparky dealt is enough to shatter the barrier!” I screamed into the radio.

“Yo Chomper, I’m genderless~” Sparky corrected.

“My bad, how about a ‘ride’ to make it up,” I offered.

“Apology accepted! With the practice we’ve done already, there’s no ‘winging it’ this time around.” Sparky joked while I picked him up.

I then fly a good distance away from the radio wave emitter before diving at the machine at full speed. “Target in sight! Ready to ‘have a blast’,” I attempted a joke.

“Sure am. Just let me ‘dive into it’,” Sparky counter joked, which I dropped Sparky onto the radio wave emitter and Sparky blew up the machine with a single explosion.

“Bombing raid was a success! Excellent work Chomper!” Jamie congratulated, “Just bring me over to the rendezvous point and you can get revenge on that tyranitar from the Whirl Islands!”

“Oh, Right!” I recalled, “I’ll be sure to bring him down.” 

After dropping Jamie off and he calls Blaze to bring Sparky over to the rendezvous point, I mow down a few more Team Rocket pokemon while radioing Tanker, “Hey Tanker, it’s payback time for what that tyranitar did to us at the Whirl Islands. Just leave some left for me to finish off.”

“You got it Chomp’! Open firing now!” Tanker replies as he turns his water cannons towards the still struggling tyranitar and blasts that foul creature with a super effective hydro pump at full power. After a few minutes, he stops and radios me, “Alright, now it’s your turn to deal the finishing blow to that tyranitar!”

“Got it, he’s mine!” I reply as I dive towards the creature who once intimidated me into surrender. I first shoot a glare at the tyranitar.  
“You... I remember you… How does the role reversal feel, you coward…” my former tormentor scowled.

“I’m not a coward anymore…” I scowled back, “With the support of my friends, your threats mean nothing to me and I’ll never surrender to the likes of you… Allow me to show you how hard I’ll fight for my friends with this iron head…” I then rear myself back, infuse my head with metal, and bash my head at full force into the tyranitar, knocking out the tyranitar once and for all.

Vineguard’s POV:

“Excellent work Chomper, we still have one more objective: find the last two rocket admins” I stated to Chomper.

“Alright then, hop on,” he offered, but I instead took a fleeing rocket grunt as he’ll likely know the admin’s whereabouts.

“Better start using your throat before you permanently lose it!” I threatened while tightly wrapping my vines around his neck, “Where’s Archer and Ariana...?”

“At the end… of Route… 46… please…” the grunt gasped for breath, which I quickly ended his consciousness with a firm whack to the head.

“The admins are at the southern end of Route 46.” I reported, “Fly me up in the air for a better view and when you see them, dive-bomb at them and I’ll reel them in.”

“Got it,” Chomper said and we’re off to find the admins. After about two minutes of searching, we found the blue-haired admin and red-haired admin ordering what appears to be a retreat, but that won’t matter for us. “I see them Vine,” Chomper pointed out.

“Okay, bring me down there ASAP,” I commanded. Chomper then dives to a lower altitude where my vines are in range to grab the two admins and once I securely have the two, Chomper and I fly off to Jamie’s rendezvous point. The only problem is that three grunts are pursuing us on crobats.

“Jamie, we have the admins, but we also have pursuers,” I reported.

Sky’s POV:

“Sky, take out Vine and Chomper’s pursuers.” Jamie radioed me, to which I nodded and took aim. I begin focusing my thunderbolt attack on the long-range crobats pursuing Chomper and Vine. “Don’t worry Sky, it’s just like how you trained,” I said out loud to myself as I further focused my attack until I’m ready. I zap the first crobat out of the air and proceed to do the same with the rest. “Um, Jamie… the grunts are still chasing on foot with houndooms.” I radioed Jamie worried.

“Alright, quickly come over to the ‘ambush point’. Then, we’ll have them.” Jamie commanded. I nod, extend my head wings, and fly over to the place Jamie mentioned earlier. There’s a narrow passageway in between two large boulders that will serve as the ‘ambush point’. Once I’m at the passageway, I see Chomper and Vineguard with the two rocket admins and Jamie warning me that they are getting close. I get in position with my tail ready and the second I see one houndoom, I swing my aqua tail at full force, sending the houndoom flying back into the rocket grunts and creating a pileup in the passageway.

“Alright! Now’s your chance Sky!” Jamie shouts over, which I couldn’t agree more.

“This is what you get for what you’ve done to me and my parents long ago!” I shouted with anger fueling an outrage attack. I then throw myself at the grunts, rampaging through them until they lose consciousness. 

“Nice work Sky, that’s some great battling out there,” Jamie complimented me.

“Thanks, I think that’s the last of them Jamie,” I replied.

Jamie then radios everyone else out on the route searching for Team Rocket grunts if the battle’s over.

“My sector’s clear,” Tanker radioed in.

“I’m good here, and thanks for the revive,” Sparky replied.

“Those cowards ran off long ago~,” Blaze responded.

Jamie’s POV:

“Well guys, we’ve finally dismantled Team Rocket! They won’t be bothering Johto anymore!” I cheered to my team.

“GRRR! You haven’t seen the last of Team Rocket!” Archer growled while struggling against Vinegaurd’s grasp.

“Good luck running Team Rocket behind bars,” I retorted.

At 7:00 pm:

After everything every officer confirms that the city is clear of Team Rocket and the two newly captured admins are arrested, Lance profoundly thanks me and my pokemon for all the work we’ve put in to finally stop Team Rocket once and for all. “An easy way to thank us is food since we didn’t even eat yet,” I joked.

“I suppose I should let you all go to get food now,” Lance nodded, “Still I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for helping, no… saving Johto from the clutches of Team Rocket. It would be an honor to accept a rematch from you for the title of champion once again.”

“Um, about that…” Sky said with concern.

“Can we have a word with our main man Jamie here?” Tanker asked, which surprised me.

“Of course,” Lance said before turning and talking with other officers.

“Hey, guys, what’s going on?” I nervously asked.

“Well Jamie, you gotta admit that fighting Team Rocket was so much cooler than battling the Elite Four!” Tanker exclaimed.

“Sure was,” Sparkbomb added, “Plus, the ups and downs we have against Team Rocket are much more impactful than our journey to the Indigo Plateau.”

“Fighting an organization in an asymmetrical warfare brought a brand new experience traditional pokemon battles don’t,” Vineguard indicated.

“Becoming champion is nice and all, but I bet that saving a whole region grants much more popularity,” Blaze suggested.

“I feel like I learn more about the world around me fighting crime everywhere instead of a confined pokemon league,” Chomper expressed.

“We also do much more good for everyone when we face off against evil groups instead of gym leaders,” Sky finished.

“So in other words…” I said before getting cut off.

“Can we please continue our crime-fighting journey?” everyone asked in unison, awaiting my answer.

I was speechless at what I’m seeing and hearing. I do admit that I did want to become the champion of Kanto, but what my team members mention isn’t wrong… Eventually, I came to a decision. “Guys...” I speak up.

“Yes... “ my team members also speak up.

I took a deep breath and said, “...From the very start, we worked hard to become stronger together and there was a point where we were strong enough to compete in the pokemon league to become the champion. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it, but a new adventure was born from a dying dream. We encountered many new elements along the way that shape us now to operate like ghostly shadows should stealth be necessary. There were bumps along the journey as we traveled on a risky road and although we fell, our teamwork and determination acted as our lifeblood to continue our journey. We were able to shape our determination into an iron will and should anyone strike one of us, we all strike back harder. No criminal organization can keep us down for long as we will keep striking the enemy until they are left a checkmate. This is the story of the newest asymmetrical tactical crime-fighting team: The Pokemon Commandos.” We all cheer and celebrate with the biggest dinner imaginable.


End file.
